lurkeroutthere said:

Criminal thinking. Criminals always think they are more clever than others, yet so many of them get caught. Remember that you're not half as clever as you believe and that the establishment always has more minds to put to work should they have reason.

I'm seeing disturbing patterns here, I point out problems with your logic or statements you splutter "but but".

Put simply actually despite what cartoons told you the catch rate on crime even in a modern organized society like for example the United States is something like 40% for non violent crime, rising to 60% for murder en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearance_rate. So no I don't buy the obvious falsehood that the "establishment" always has enough resources to prevent, track, and punish crimes as it is at it's base not accurate. It gets even more questionable when you consider that Rogue Trader takes place in the 40k universe, which while technologically complex gets by with a justice and administrative system that could be describes most generously as feudal. So forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical of the system being an omnicient enough to catch message falsification done by a highly powered/trusted member on a space ship out in the hinterlands.

Basically the best prevention against this particular type of crime is going to come, as I pointed out, in the form of cypers that the astropath doesn't have the key to and must break them if they are able. If they are unable to break the cypher through fair means or foul then they cannot believably tamper with the message.

 i never said that criminals are always caught, i said that the establishment always has greater resources. i too sense a dxisturbing trend in our conversations so perhaps it's best if we just agree to disagree since i tend to find your dismissive tone offensive

lurkeroutthere said:

…Whoa, my browser just redirected to 4chan…

EDIT:

Sorry, i had to. Anyhow, I think the problem is in perspective. From one side, the PCs, being center of the storyline and the only ones the group should be overly concerned with, are the most important part of the universe. Totally valid, and makes the "anything is possible" style of play possible and fun.

On the other hand, the Universe has established canon, and a gamemaster looses the ability to control the direction of the group the moment players are able to do anything they want. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but if there is a story arc and a plot at work then it isn't fair for one player in particular to be able to flout the rules and suffer no consequences because he's a PC. It is a grimdark universe, and death lurks around every corner.

Reality is, the gamemaster will likely have set up his campaign and the story thus far in such a way as to let the players know exactly where they stand in the galaxy. It could be on either side of the above coin, and neither is better then the other (I would know, having been both trapped and too happy to leave both realms of play style at one point or another!) only different. So, as I said before, talk to the GM. Talk to the other player. Sort it out as adults unhappy with a situation, and then work out a suitable solution in game. Perhaps the Rogue Trader receives a message from the Telepathica, while the Astropath receives a censure himself warning that while he has been protected by his years of honourable service, future transgressions will be met by them purging their ranks to save face. You get your stuff, but the rest of the group doesn't need to worry about your shiny new trump card.

 player characters are certainly the focus of the stories told, but that doesnt make them the most important people in the universe by any means. 

While the PCs are not the most important characters in the game universe (unless it's a High Lords of Terra campaign or somesuch), they should be important characters in the context of the campaign. 'Important' not strictly equating to 'powerful' though there is correlation.

I once played in an epic level D&D campaign with a number of interesting PCs. Who all may as well not shown up given how much the NPCs were doing in every single session. Yes, there are other powerful factions or individuals in game universes. But a GM who solely focuses on those powerful NPCs at the expense of the PCs is missing the point of gaming in my view. Which is to have a mutually enjoyable time.