CRPG developer Owlcat Games has announced the first closed playtest (opens in new tab) of its upcoming Warhammer 40K RPG Rogue Trader (opens in new tab).Developer's Digital Pack or Collector's Edition versions of the game will be able to participate in the alpha test starting December 7.

Rogue Trader is the first classic Baldur's Gate-style RPG set in the Warhammer 40K Universe, and Owlcat is based on the rules of the tabletop system of the same name (opens in new tab). In this RPG, you play as a super-elite agent of the Human Emperor, tasked with exploring the galaxy and dealing with its various inhabitants to avoid what is called "the tyranny of the dark future."

You basically become a fleet captain or council specter, but instead of working for a socialist utopia or a space UN, your bosses are a bit more demanding.

This is not the first time Owlcat has broken new ground with an adaptation of a tabletop RPG-Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous are the only video game adaptations of the Pathfinder rule set so far, but The close association with "Dungeons & Dragons 3.5" has given Owlcat several examples (opens in new tab) that follow.

Rogue Trader is based on d100 rolls instead of the classic d20, and Owlcat notes that the game will be exclusively turn-based as opposed to real-time with pauses; Owlcat's previous work, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (opens in new tab), which allowed players to switch between the two in the middle of a battle, the studio says a more focused approach will help balance the game (opens in new tab). Besides, real time with pauses and its consequences have been a disaster for mankind.

Pathfinder Kingmaker (opens in new tab) was a slightly flawed gem, while Wrath of Justice (opens in new tab) was a post-launch support and DLC add-on (opens in new tab) that included a secondary low-level campaign, bonus endgame dungeon, and rogue light mode Open in tab), made even better by an ongoing series of Rogue Trader is definitely one of my most anticipated games of the future."