AbyssKnight

Hey everyone, There are a lot of alt ranks in the Rogue Trader books that I feel would add nicely to my Dark Heresy game. But I am wondering about the rank requirement. ex. Genetor requires rank 2 (10,000 xp). For a Dark Heresy PC should I go with the Rank (2) or XP (10,000; which would be rank 8) I am soliciting opinions as most don't seem like they would be overpowered taken "early" (at the Rank level) but wanted to hear if others saw a reason to wait until later (the XP total).

Why do we have to choose? Perhaps the elements that make each Primarch unique are both engineered by the Emperor and influenced by Chaos. Take your example of Lorgar. I can easily see the Emperor putting some kind of coding in place to enhance the dedication of the Astartes to their Primarch, above and beyond that which is normally present. And in turn, that Primarch will be especially dedicated to the Emperor, above and beyond even his brothers' loyalty. But which traveling through the Warp, a helpless infant, the Powers corrupted this trait, loyalty became piety, love became worship, a son became a supplicant. Or Leman Russ. The Emperor engineers his genome with traits of canine DNA, as a previous poster said, to encourage a fierce but loyal mindset. Astartes are "pack animals" afterall, and Russ will be the Alpha! But when Chaos abducted the cub-Primarch, what was supposed to be a subtle influence, something that affected how Russ would think and act, become something much more.....physical. Instead of just thinking in terms of "the good of the pack" (whether the pack is Fenrisians, Space Wolves, the Imperium, or all humanity), now he and his genetic sons would be vulpine in form. But in Russ's case, there is an almost allergic reaction. Too much Chaos can result in an over-stimulation of this process, which helps protect against Chaotic taint but transforms the Marine into Wulfen!! These are just two examples, but I hope they show how it is a false dichotomy to say we must choose that either the Emperor chose for his sons to be how they were, or that it was entirely Chaos' doing. I think it makes sense that the Emperor would make each of his generals different. The Primarchs were made in sequence, not as a batch, and so he may have tried different techniques on each. They are as much a science experiment as anything else, precious and important as they are. And Chaos is not known for creating but for corrupting. Rather than installing new traits wholesale, they would have magnified preexisting traits to try to suit their desires. This fits with every depiction of Chaos' seduction I know of, the slow fall as they appeal to what is already inside you.

I think a BA successor that focuses on their vampiric aspect could be cool if not overplayed. Unforetunately, I think you are overplaying it. But for the most part its just a matter of toning down the worst parts. Things I like: The color scheme, I don't care if people think red/black are over used it looks good. Sylvannia, it brings to mind forests not fangs, as long as you tone down some other stuff I would keep this name. The hunting ritual, the one bit of chapter fluff you have included is nice though more feral than normal for non-Black Rage BA and hunting animals (even dragons) instead of people doesn't really support the vampire theme. You may want to modify it, but I like that you included it. I don't think we get enough information about the chapter yet. You basically just describe their homeworld and their leader. Organization and recruitment practices, variations in how they view the Emperor and relationship with other Imperial entities, recent activies they have been involved; these are important aspects to fully describing the nature of your chapter. I don't mind dragons. The salamanders (small s) of Nocturne, for whom the Salamanders (big S) are named, are described as large (Firedrakes can be several tons) reptiles that live on volcanic mountains and breath fire (see Index Astartes IV: Salamanders). I imagine they are reddish-brown in color given their environment. Also, exodite eldar ride some kind of large reptiles described as dragons, but I know much less about them so I am not familiar with the details. But neither have wings. Further, while Dracula can mean "son of the dragon" it can also mean "son of the demon" as I understand, and considering I think this is one of the areas you should probably tone down, I am not sure dragons really contribute to your central theme. Dragons don't say "vampire" and don't say "space marine." I would work to get it down to just these two themes without throwing a third one in the mix. Instead of a very obvious reference like Vlad, maybe go with Bram (like the author), or better yet Brahm. If you nix some of the other dragon stuff you could even surname him Brahm Dragonborn, which brings back the Dracula reference but hides in in plain English. I hope some of these ideas help. As a final observation, you say you like history but don't like writing. I don't really understand that much. I have a degree in History and I can't tell you how many papers I had to write in school!!

Well, since all chapters are required to send the Mechanicus 5% of their geneseed for testing and stockpiling to create future new chapters, the Celestial Lions could request a resupply of their own chapter's geneseed for the creation of new initiates. There is some precedence for this, as the Chapters with flawed geneseed such as the Raven Guard have their own geneseed "recycled" back to the chapter after testing to help keep their numbers up. The biggest thing the Celestial Lions are missing are Apothecaries, to actually oversee the augmentation surguries to create new marines. A different chapter (such as the Iron Champions) could host some Celestial Lions to train them in the Apothecarion to fix this problem. There are numerous examples in the fluff of chapters sending marines to other chapters for training with specialists, so there is precedence for this as well. Once the Celestial Lions have rebuilt a cadre of Apothecaries and recieved shipment of geneseed from Mars, they just need to start recruiting aspirants to become initiates. The Lexicanum article states they are planet based, so they should have a fairly stable supply. There are a few problems with this plan, of course. If the Inquisition, or an Inquisitor, had decided to destory the chapter he could still cause a lot of problems with rebuilding the chapter. The Mechanicus could refuse to supply the geneseed, or the supplies could be lost/destroyed in transit. The ship with the Apothecary-trainees could be attacked on the way to/from the Iron Champion's crusade fleet before/after their training. Since the chapter will probably still be somewhat active despite their reduce numbers even during the years (and it will probably be decades for meaningful rebuilding to take place), any further casualties have the possibility to completely wipe them out before the plan can bear fruit. Still, it would be possible to rebuild the chapter. In fact, I would not look at it as rebuilding an existing chapter. Imagine the founding of a new chapter, with 96 veterans to act as the senior officers, and the task seems much more hopeful. Except for the possibility of the vengeful Inquisitor.