Mechanics

Understand Movement Points, Action Points, Initiative, Ranged & Melee Attacks, Damage calculation, Critical Hits, Injuries, Dodge, and Cover in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.

This guide breaks down the core combat and character mechanics in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, explaining how actions are resolved and how to gain an advantage.

Movement Points (MP): Determine how far a character can move per turn. 1 MP equals one cell. Diagonal movement costs +1 MP for every second diagonal cell.

Action Points (AP): Used for attacks and combat abilities. AP are restored to their base value (initially 4) each turn, but can be increased.

Initiative: Affects turn order. Higher initiative increases the chance of being in an earlier group. The group with the highest average initiative goes first. Initiative = 1-10 + (Agility + Perception / 2).

Difficulty Tier: Enemies are ranked from I to VII, indicating their strength.

Ranged Attacks: Base hit chance is (30 + Ballistic Skill)%. This is halved beyond effective range. Missed shots or dodged attacks can hit targets behind the primary target (overpenetration).

• Burst: Fires multiple shots. Trajectories are calculated, and burst shots hit the first target in their path. Recoil applies an accuracy penalty to subsequent shots.
• Ranged Area Attacks: Target multiple enemies in an area. Missed targets take grazing damage (50% of normal).

Melee Attacks: Enemies can dodge or parry. High Perception and Agility aid dodging; high Weapon Skill aids ignoring parries.

• Melee Superiority: Grants a +10 Weapon Skill bonus for each ally surrounding a creature, provided enemies don't outnumber allies. Large creatures require more enemies to negate this. Many bosses are immune.
• Attacks of Opportunity: Moving out of a melee wielder's threatened area or performing certain actions provokes an attack.

Damage: Calculated as ((Base damage + flat modifiers + percentage modifiers) - (Deflection - Deflection Negation)) x (1 - (Armour - Armour Penetration) / 100). Direct damage bypasses these reductions.

• Critical Hits: Deal 150% of normal damage plus bonuses. Base critical hit chance is 10% for ranged, 0% for melee. Hit chance over 95% converts to critical hit chance.

Injuries: Received when taking damage exceeding 50% of total wounds in a round. Injuries reduce resolve and stats. Untreated injuries become old wounds, requiring Medicae tests to heal. Accumulating injuries can lead to permanent trauma, healed by resting.

Dodge: Base dodge chance is 30% + target's Agility - attacker's dodge reduction + modifiers. Dodge reduction for ranged attacks equals attacker's Perception; for melee, it's half the attacker's Agility. Area attacks allow targets to move up to three cells to escape.

Cover: Provides a chance to avoid ranged attacks (35% for partial, 60% for full). Successful cover checks negate damage when attacked from the opposite side.