Rogue Trader is coming to an end with miracles, madness and 'tears of blood'

"The miraculist Stella, a frail-looking young woman raised by the Ecclesiarchy, with powerful psychic abilities, can be recruited as a companion. Although she is an unsanctioned psyker, her order treats her like a miracle created by the God Emperor Himself. As the conduit of His will, she manifests her unstable powers shedding tears of blood and showing cracks in her porcelain skin.

"In battle she emanates a devastating wave of psychic flares, dealing area of effect damage to those surrounding her. Although she can learn to control her powers to some degree, veil degradation and the power of the warp mean that she will never truly be free from peril and madness."

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader's three-year run of expansions is drawing to a close this December with Processional of the Damned. Like the previous DLCs, Processional will introduce a new storyline and companion, both integrated into the existing story rather than coming after the end of the campaign. And your new buddy, well, she sounds pretty extra. A bit risky, maybe?

Here are some red flags:

• Cries tears of blood
• Unstable powers
• Might be heretical
• "She will never truly be free from peril and madness"
• A living weapon

But I guess when you're already travelling with a psychotic alien who tried to kill you, another unsanctioned psyker who's been known to lose control of her powers, a blood-obsessed assassin and Judge Dredd, Stella might actually fit in perfectly.

Along with Stella, Processional will introduce the new Zealot archetype, letting you forge a character who loves to bludgeon enemies to death. Owlcat has also teased a new feature, "madness", which will affect all your companions—probably not in a good way—as well as new enemies and gear.

After a rough start, Rogue Trader has grown into the best of Owlcat's dense CRPGs, and another one is on the way. Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy doesn't have a release date yet, but it's "coming soon". Beyond CRPGs, we've also got The Expanse: Osiris Reborn to look forward to—it's very different from Owlcat's previous RPGs, but it might have the juice.

Image 1 of 5