My theory on why we get so many Humans in Rogue Trader and why Dark Heresy most likely will be very different in terms of companion variety (especially in DLCs)
To me it's very simple. It's animations and skeleton rigs. I honestly think the reason we got so many similar companions (and some of those do not have ability to even have many items shown on them) is because of skeleton rigs and animations. Do you remember how with some items Cassia would look like lore accurate Habsburg?
I think it's that. Because it also happened to Eldar as well from what I remember and I think that is big part of why we got mostly humans in Rogue Trader. They simply have very limited animations in this game which is fair considering they had to make it from the ground up which definitely came with some hurdles and this is most likely the biggest reason for why we got so many imperials.
Because when you do humans there is just far less options to choose from. So they went with the direction of exploring different sides to Imperium with them.
And in terms of Dark Heresy I say it is a problem that has been largely fixed as many encounters you have there are against far more varied kinds of creatures. Some Daemons look far more complex, Kroot overall have TONS of unique animations and Ra'akhti herself never seems to have this glitchy problem so it seems like whatever problem there was with character skeletons in Rogue Trader has been largely taken care of in Dark Heresy.
But that also creates this weird dichotomy between both games because usually more alien welcoming Rogue Trader has mostly human cast against Dark Heresy's far more unique one where you have all kinds of characters.
But I think it can honestly be it's strength. Let me explain.
I think Xenos galore would make for interesting Inquisition experience as it is more severe for you to have them, but also can make it more interesting because of how much more intimate and close Dark Heresy is compared to Rogue Trader which is far more grand in scale.
Having us be able to get closer to some Xenos and understand them better works well in this game as in a way this is the same path Calcazar took in Rogue Trader. But we could become Calcazar that doesn't 'lose', that doesn't lose battles or themselves for their ambitions. And our more well inquisitive nature could let us learn more about Xenos and their culture and for that kind of thing make sense.
Where it is not something that you can do on a whim, but it is you taking a genuine risk and that risk creating more genuine bonds as well with said potential companions. I want more variety after Rogue Trader as well and I can tell Owlcat will most likely listen to the feedback they got over adding so many humans. People want more variety so they better give it. Otherwise they would squander this potential overall. Not just for Rogue Trader.
And I think it is interesting how this is inverse of Pathfinder games where first game was much smaller in scale and second more polished one was VERY grand and meanwhile 40k RPGs start big, but end up being smaller.
And I think with both cases the latter options are stronger for their respective settings. Pathfinder is a smaller setting that thrives on being a power fantasy and 40k while being a VERY large universe shines brightest when it comes to individual stories and struggles of people and xenos in this universe. And that I believe will make Dark Heresy a very special game.
But sadly that also means Rogue Trader was a stepping stone to it, but in the end it's still a VERY great RPG. But it is still the FIRST 40k RPG so there is bound to be issues, experiments both well done and failed ones. But it is still important none the less and if what it did means Dark Heresy will be 40k masterpiece where I can rawdog a bipedal chicken while an Eldar Corsair listens from other side of the wall then I say Rogue Trader still succeeded even if it's flawed with it's execution of it's tabletop setting.
That is my take on the whole discourse around human dogmatics in Rogue Trader and future of Dark Heresy. Do not cry over lost opportunities because they may have been a way for you to get something truly special you would never trade for anything else.
Hopefully. I hope DH is good. I think it will be, but still.
Posted Sep 25, 2026, 7:45 PM UTC