TOPOS: ROGUE TRADER

I have previously mentioned the concept of the literary topos, or commonplace. A topos is an idea, motif or scene that recurs in the literature of different authors. Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 are full of topoi from the fantasy and science fiction genres. In this series of posts I plan from time to time to present various topoi in the early editions of these games (WFB1-3, WFRP1 and WH40K: Rogue Trader) alongside comparable antecedents in other works, with the aim that the similarities and differences among them might become apparent. I do not intend to append lengthy commentary, but hope that the passages will largely speak for themselves.

The first edition of WH40K synthesises many ideas from classic science fiction. The eponymous Rogue Traders seem to be a clear example.

Then there is the eastern fringe, the remote area of the galaxy where the Astronomican does not reach, and where the only human settlers are renegades or pioneering groups whose ancestors were forgotten millennia ago. Most of the galaxy remains unexplored, unknown and dangerous.

The potential of new worlds, alien civilisations and unimaginable resources has stimulated the growth of free-ranging Imperial agents known as Rogue Traders. Licensed and equipped by the priesthood, the Rogue Trader is free to explore the far regions of the galaxy, the areas where the Astronomican does not reach, and those areas within its reach as yet unvisited…. Operating in isolation from the central authority of the Imperium, the Rogue Trader must decide how to react to alien cultures, new discoveries and threats. If he judges a race to be dangerous[,] he may attempt to destroy it, or gather as much information about it as he can[,] so that others may do so. If he decides a race may be of use to humanity[,] he may attempt to make contact and establish relations. If merely technologically or minerally rich, a planet may be plundered….

– Warhammer 40,000, first edition, p166 (1987)

Rogue Traders have much in common with the Traders and Merchant Princes of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books.

Constantly in advance of the political hegemony of the Foundation were the Traders, reaching out tenuous fingerholds through the tremendous distances of the Periphery. Months or years might pass between landings on Terminus; their ships were often nothing more than patch-quilts of home-made repairs and improvisations; their honesty was none of the highest; their daring…

Through it all they forged an empire more enduring than the pseudo-religious despotism of the Four Kingdoms…

Tales without end are told of these massive, lonely figures who bore half-seriously, half-mockingly a motto adapted from one of Salvor Hardin’s epigrams, “Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!”

– Isaac Asimov, Foundation, part IV, ‘The Traders’, chapter 1 (1942-1944 as serial, 1951 as book)

“I admit I gouged him, but I’ve got to make quota, don’t I?”

– op cit, part IV, ‘The Traders’, chapter 6

Economic Control of the Foundation grew. The traders grew rich; with riches came power…

It is sometimes forgotten that Hober Mallow began life as an ordinary trader. It is never forgotten that he ended it as the first of the Merchant Princes…

– op cit, part V, ‘The Merchant Princes’, chapter 1

However, WH40K‘s mention of “new worlds, alien civilisations” also recalls another space exploration mission.

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!

– Star Trek (1966-1969)

Comparable ideas appeared in science-fiction RPGs and wargames. Most notable among them is Laserburn, which was written by one of WH40K‘s creators and prefigures many of its ideas.

The instruments of Imperial power on the frontier are the Merchant Barons.

Each Baron is given a section of a frontier to exploit, [sic] all the High Lords ask is that he should ship his quota of goods or raw materials back to the Inner Worlds, [sic] his methods are his own concern….

Only the Merchant Barons are liscensed [sic] to trade between planets….

– Bryan Ansell, Laserburn, p37 (1980)

Traveller (1977) provides another archetype.

This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone… Mayday, Mayday….

– Classic Traveller, Deluxe Edition, box cover (1981)

The Imperium is held together by bonds of trade – the exchange of goods, services, ideas and culture. From lone free traders to sector-spanning commercial empires, it is the merchant service that keeps the interstellar community united and flourishing.

– Journal of the Traveller’s Aid Society 12, Special Supplement 1, ‘Merchant Prince’ (1982)

WH40K‘s Rogue Traders exhibit striking similarities with the Traders, Merchant Princes and Merchant Barons of Foundation and Laserburn. All are autonomous agents operating at the edge of controlled territory on behalf of a central authority, with freedom to exploit peoples and planets as they see fit. WH40K does not mention the use of quotas , but they are perhaps to be inferred intertextually.

There is, though, significant distance between Rogue Traders and the other examples cited here. Despite the linguistic echoes, Star Trek‘s five-year mission represents a more principled approach to exploration, and Traveller‘s traders are less agents of imperial expansion and more conventional conduits of commerce (based on Andre Norton’s Solar Queen and EC Tubb’s Dumarest stories, the latter in turn influenced by Leigh Brackett).

The next post in this series looks at hive worlds.

For other posts on Warhammer 40,000, see this link.

Title art by Chris Foss. Used without permission. No challenge intended to the rights holders.