Savage 40K - Bestiary Part One

I was planning on posting some gear stats today, mostly weapons and power armor, but I had some problems and LibreOffice ate the work I had done. So, instead, I spent 45 minutes or so and drew up some tyranid stats for my upcoming playtest game. I added two monstrous abilities specifically for tyranids (Synapse Creature and Animal Instincts), and some of the basic tyranid types. Later, I'll be adding the Zoanthrope, Carnifex, Tervigon, and a few others.

Once I finish the tyranids, I'll probably start working on orks or dark eldar. I'll be redoing the gear list, and I'll probably write up a few Savage Deathwatch one-sheets. At this point, all I have to finish up for the playtest is the gear, which hopefully shouldn't take much more than an hour or so. So, that said, here's the actual content I've got finished up for today.

Tyranids

New Monstrous Abilities

Animal Instincts: This tyranid can only attack the nearest foe unless otherwise commanded by a tyranid with the Synapse Creature ability.

Synapse Creature: This tyranid can command other, non-synapse creature tyranids in the immediate vicinity. If a synapse creature is commanding, tyranids can attack any enemy desired, rather than defaulting to the nearest enemy.

Genestealer

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8

Skills: Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, Notice d6

Pace: 10

Parry: 6

Toughness: 6

Special Abilities:

Scything Talons: Str+d6

Rend: If a genestealer hits with a raise on its talons talons, it causes an extra d6 damage on top of its regular attack damage.

Animal Instincts

(Wild Card) Genestealer Broodlord

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d8

Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidation d8, Notice d8, Shooting d8

Pace: 10

Parry: 8

Toughness: 10 (3)

Special Abilities:

Scything Talons: Str+d8

Rend: If a broodlord hits with a raise on its talons, it causes an extra d6 damage on top of its regular attack damage.

Synapse Creature: The broodlord can command other tyranid creatures, overriding their Animal Instincts ability.

Termagant

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d4, Strength d6, Vigor d6

Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d4, Shooting d6

Pace: 5

Parry: 5

Toughness: 4

Special Abilities:

Fearless: Termagants are immune to Fear and Intimidation.

Claws: Str

Fleshborer: d6

Animal Instincts

Hormagaunt

Attributes: Aglity d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d4, Strength d6, Vigor d6

Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d6

Pace: 6

Parry: 5

Toughness: 4

Special Abilities:

Fearless: Hormagaunts are immune to Fear and Intimidation.

Scything Talons: Str+d6

Animal Instincts

Ripper Swarm

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d12, Strength d8, Vigor d10

Skills: Notice d6

Pace: 10

Parry: 4

Toughness: 7

Special Abilities:

Bite: 2d4 damage to everyone in the template, even to armored enemies.

Split: Ripper swarms are cunning enough to split into smaller swarms (Small Burst Template) if their enemies split up. The toughness of these separate swarms are lowered by -2 for each split.

Swarm: Ripper swarms cover an area the size of a Medium Burst Template and attack every foe within the area each round.

Animal Instincts

Gargoyle

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6

Skills: Notice d6, Shooting d6

Pace: 4

Parry: 4

Toughness: 4

Special Abilities:

Animal Instincts

Fleshborer d6

Flight: Pace 10, Climb 2

(Wild Card) Flying Hive Tyrant

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d12+9, Vigor d12

Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d12, Notice d12, Shooting d10

Pace: 8

Parry: 7

Toughness: 20 (4)

Special Abilities:

Armor +4: Hardened carapace

Bone Sword/Lash Whip: Str+d8

Venom Cannon: 2d10+2, AP 2

Flight: Pace 24, Climb 0

Hardy: The Hive Tyrant does not suffer a wound from being Shaken twice.

Huge: Attackers gain +4 to their Fighting/Shooting rolls to attack the Hive Tyrant due to its massive size.

Frenzy: The Hive Tyrant may make two Fighting attacks with no penalty.

Level Headed: The Hive Tyrant may act on the best of two cards.

Size +6: Hive Tyrants are huge, over 20 feet tall and 30 feet long (including the tail).

Tail Lash: The Hive Tyrant can beat opponents with its tail in its rear facing in a 3” by 6” area. This is a normal Fighting attack

Synapse Creature: The Hive Tyrant can command other tyranid creatures, overriding their Animal Instincts ability.

(Wild Card) Hive Tyrant

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d12+9, Vigor d12

Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d12, Notice d12, Shooting d10

Pace: 8

Parry: 7

Toughness: 20 (4)

Special Abilities:

Armor +4: Hardened carapace

Bone Sword/Lash Whip: Str+d8

Venom Cannon: 2d10+2, AP 2

Hardy: The Hive Tyrant does not suffer a wound from being Shaken twice.

Huge: Attackers gain +4 to their Fighting/Shooting rolls to attack the Hive Tyrant due to its massive size.

Frenzy: The Hive Tyrant may make two Fighting attacks with no penalty.

Level Headed: The Hive Tyrant may act on the best of two cards.

Size +6: Hive Tyrants are huge, over 20 feet tall and 30 feet long (including the tail).

Tail Lash: The Hive Tyrant can beat opponents with its tail in its rear facing in a 3” by 6” area. This is a normal Fighting attack

Synapse Creature: The Hive Tyrant can command other tyranid creatures, overriding their Animal Instincts ability.

Savage 40K - Part Three

I've been working more on my Savage 40K conversion - this time I've got most of the Chapter Edges. I'll admit, I'm stuck on a few of them. I don't know enough about the White Scars to come up with an Edge that really fits them yet, and I'm having some trouble thinking of ways to differentiate some new ones from the Edges I've already created. In any case, here's what I've got so far. Keep in mind, these are works-in-progress, and they'll probably be changed quite a bit before being finalized.

Once I finish up the other big sections (gear, skills, enemies), I plan on running a play-by-post game on RPG.net to begin playtesting these rules. When that game gets going, I'll post links and my thoughts on the game here.

Some Notes

I've got the basic gear list created, so it's just a matter of creating or altering stats for them. It shouldn't take long, so the gear should hopefully be in my next post.

I'm also working on the skill list. I've removed a few skills and added Command and Inspire. The full write ups for those skills, along with the changes I've made to other skills, should also be in my next post.

Chapter Edges

Chapter Edges are special edges that designate a Space Marine's Chapter. While these Edges give specific Chapter benefits, they have a hindrance as well. This is to show the faults and natures inherent in the Chapter. A Space Marine may only ever have a single Chapter Edge, and once chosen, that Edge is permanent.

Black Templars

Black Templars are descendents of the Imperial Fists, split off into their own Chapter during the Second Founding. Their stern, implacable nature is matched by their undying zeal in their pursuit of the Emperor's enemies. They abhor witchery, and as such do not employ psykers. They also do not use Devastator squads, preferring to keep heavy weapons mixed in with their Tactical squads.

Restrictions: Black Templars cannot choose the Librarian (Arcane Background) or Devastator Marine Specialty Edges.

Effects: The Black Templars receive a +1 on their Spirit roll to resist being Shaken in combat if, in that combat round, they killed an enemy.

Hindrance: A Black Templar must pass a Spirit test in order to keep from killing enemy psykers in battle. While this may not always be against the Kill-Team's goals, it should prove a problem if the objective is to capture the psyker alive.

Blood Angels

The Sons of Sanguinius, the Blood Angels are among the most noble of the Space Marines. Their crimson armor is highly decorated, and their war gear is of the highest quality of artifice in the Imperium. They excel at close-range combat, using jump packs and drop pods to strike at their enemies' weakest points. Their ferocity in close-combat is matched perhaps only by the Space Wolves, though a Blood Angle would never admit it. The death of their primarch is still felt by the Blood Angels 10,000 years later, as it manifests in the Black Rage and Red Thirst, though such afflictions are known only to the Chapter and its successors.

Effects: All Blood Angels are proficient in the art of melee combat; as such, all Blood Angels are issued a chainsword as standard-issue gear.

Hindrance: If an enemy combatant surrenders, if a Blood Angel has been wounded, he must pass a Spirit test to keep from slaughtering the enemy rather than accepting the surrender.

Imperial Fists

The Imperial Fists were, during the time of the Horus Heresy, the Emperor's Praetorians. Masters of siege warfare, the Fists fortified the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra, standing alongside the other loyal Legions to defeat the forces of Chaos. Based on the battle fortress Phalanx, the Imperial Fists are some of the Emperor's most loyal and steadfast Space Marines.

Effects: Imperial Fists gain a +2 to Notice tests to find suitable cover and defensible positions to use during combat. This bonus also applies to Notice tests in discerning possible ambush locations.

Hindrance:

Space Wolves

The Sons of Russ, or Space Wolves, are one of the Emperor's most devoted and loyal Chapters. The Space Wolves live for the thrill of battle, drawing on their wolfish nature to excel in hand-to-hand combat. They live every day to its fullest, spending the nights before battle in joyous celebration, knowing that the next day may take them to their death in the service of the Emperor.

Effects: The Space Wolves have keen senses, giving them a +2 on Notice tests when they forgo their power armor helmets.

Hindrance: When ordered to retreat from combat, a Space Wolf must pass a Spirit test in order to do so, given their enthusiasm and urge to endlessly pursue their foes.

Raven Guard

The Raven Guard were one of the three Legions devastated on Istvaan V when Horus's forces betrayed the Imperium. Their Primarch, Corvus Corax, advocated stealth, patience, and violence from the shadows, contrary to many Legions' straightforward warfare styles. To this day, the Raven Guard adhere to their Primarch's strategies and rely on stealth to bring death to their enemies.

Effects: Raven Guard receive a +2 to Stealth tests.

Hindrance: Due to their headstrong and independent nature, Raven Guard must pass a Spirit test in order to benefit from a squad leader's use of the Command skill if the squad leader is of a different Chapter.

Iron Hands

The Iron Hands were one of the original Legions before the Second Founding after the Horus Heresy. Dedicated to their Primarch, Ferrus Manus, the Iron Hands believe that even Astartes flesh is weak. Closer to the Adeptus Mechanicus than any other Chapter, they believe in the strength of machines and seek to improve themselves by replacing their weak flesh with bionic enhancements.

Effects: All Iron Hands may raise the Repair skill to d10, rather than d6, regardless of specialty, to reflect their affinity for machines.

Hindrance: The Iron Hands' gruff nature and taciturn demeanor means that they receive a -1 penalty to Charisma when dealing with anyone who is not bionically enhanced in some form.

Salamanders

The Salamanders, or Fire-Born, are a pragmatic and noble Chapter. More than most Space Marines, they concern themselves with the well-being of mortals, going so far as to live among them when they are not actively pursuing the enemies of mankind. Despite their cordial relationships with mortals, the Salamanders are also one of the most pragmatic Chapters, willing to take dire action to attain victory.

Effects: Salamanders gain a +2 to opposed Tests of Wills due to their implacable and stubborn nature.

Hindrance: Once a Salamander has decided on a course of action, he will not reconsider or change his mind unless he passes a Spirit test.

Ultramarines

Often called the Emperor's Finest, the Ultramarines are among the mightiest of the Imperium's heroes. They follow the Codex Astartes, penned by their primarch, Roboute Guilliman, using its tenets to guide their lives and the way they wage war. The majority of the successor Chapters use the gene-seed of the Ultramarines due to its purity and genetic stability.

Effects: Ultramarines gain a +2 to either Inspire or Command tests, as they are guided to be leaders and exemplars of what a Space Marine should be.

Hindrance: Ultramarines are unable to receive the benefits of a squad leader's use of Command or Inspire if the squad leader is not of the Ultramarines or an Ultramarine successor Chapter. This can be overcome with a Spirit test.

Dark Angels

The Dark Angels are highly-secretive Space Marines, based on the Rock, a warp-capable star fortress built upon a piece of their shattered home world of Caliban. During the Horus Heresy, the Dark Angels Legion split in two, some siding with Horus, the rest with their primarch, Lion El'Jonson. Though the loyalists proved victorious, the primarch was lost and the traitors were scattered across the stars. To this day, the Dark Angels and their successors hunt the traitors, known as the Fallen, to bring them to justice in the name of the Emperor and the Lion.

Effects:

Hindrance: A Dark Angel who learns of the existence of one of the Fallen in the course of a mission must pass a Spirit test in order to keep from abandoning his Kill-Team to pursue the traitor.

Remaining Chapters

Carcharodons

Flesh Tearers

Soul Drinkers

Crimson Fists

White Scars

Savage 40K - Part Two

Continuing my conversion of the Warhammer 40K RPGs to Savage Worlds, I've got some more Edges and some gear ideas for Space Marines. I've refined the Librarian edge and added it to the category of Specialty Edges. Later, I'll be adding in Advanced Specialty Edges to handle things like Chaplains, Masters of the Forge, and Captains.

I'm also working on a gear list; while Savage Worlds doesn't normally place a lot of emphasis on gear, Space Marines have strong connections to their gear, particularly their weapons, armor, and Chapter relics. Since that's the case, I plan on putting a bit more emphasis on gear than I would normally for Savage Worlds.

After this, I'll be working on the Chapter Edges. I'm not really sure how to implement these, but they'll probably be similar to the Specialty Edges. I may include a Hindrance with them, like the Blood Angels' Black Rage/Red Thirst, that fits with the Chapters. The Chapters I'd like to make Edges for include the following:
Blood Angels
Ultramarines
Imperial Fists
Space Wolves
Salamanders
Iron Hands
Raven Guard
White Scars
Dark Angels
Soul Drinkers
Flesh Tearers
Black Templars
Carcharodons (Space Sharks)
Crimson Fists
Lamenters

Character Creation

Creating a  Space Marine character for Savage 40K uses the normal character creation rules for Savage Worlds with a few alterations. In addition to the normal gains any character receives, Space Marines also choose one Specialty Edge and one Chapter Edge. They also receive standard issue gear according to their specialty, in addition to the standard gear every Space Marine receives.

Standard Gear: Bolt pistol, combat knife, three grenades, one Chapter Trapping.

Specialty Edges

These edges can only be taken at character creation. They reflect a Space Marine's specialization in combat. Space Marines can only take one Specialty Edge, and certain Chapters may prohibit certain specialties.

Apothecary
Requirements - Novice, Smarts d6+
Space Marine Apothecaries are primarily battlefield medics, though they are just as combat capable as any other Space Marine. They carry the narthecium, a device that acts as a medical tool and allows the Apothecary to remove a Space Marine's progenoid glands upon their death in order to return the Space Marine's geneseed to his Chapter.
Effects - Apothecaries gain a +2 bonus to the Healing skill.
Standard Gear - Narthecium, bolter.

Assault Marine
Requirements - Novice, Agility d6+
Assault Marines are close-combat specialists who often use jump packs to attack from the air. They tend to close with the enemy to take advantage of their strength and devastating weaponry.

Effects: When using jump packs, Assault Marines can add up to 12” to their Pace instead of the normal 6”.

Standard Gear: Chainsword, jump pack

Devastator Marine
Requirements - Novice, Strength d10+
Devastator Marines are heavy weapon specialists. They use powerful, long-range weapons to wreak hellish destruction on their enemies.
Effects: Devastator Marines reduce the penalty for shooting at ranges beyond close by half, so a medium-range shot would be at -1 instead of -2, and long-range shots take a -2 penalty instead of -4.
Standard Gear: Heavy Bolter, backpack-mounted ammo supply.

Librarian (Arcane Background)

Arcane Skill - Psyker (Smarts)

Power Points - 10

Starting Powers - 3

Astartes Librarians are specially-trained psykers experienced in delving into the raw power of the warp to fuel their psychic powers.

Warp Backlash - When a Librarian rolls a 1 on his Psyker die (regardless of the Wild Die), he is automatically Shaken. On a critical failure, he rolls on the Warp Backlash table (currently in progress, mostly being based off of FFG's Deathwatch Warp Events and Perils of the Warp tables).

Standard Gear: Force weapon.

Tactical Marine
Requirements: Novice
Tactical Marines are general combat specialists who use the Emperor's holy bolter to rain death and destruction on the enemies of the Imperium.
Effects: Tactical Marines may use regular ranged weapons in close-quarters combat, though the standard rules for ranged weapons in close combat still apply. This does not allow the Tactical Marine to use heavy weapons in close combat, however.
Standard Gear: Bolter, 1 clip of special ammunition of 25 Requisition or less (the Tactical Marine must still meet Renown requirements for this ammunition).

Techmarine
Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+
Techmarines are the artificers and mechanics of the Space Marines. They are charged with maintaining and repairing all Space Marine equipment, including their weapons, armor, and vehicles.
Effects: Techmarines can take the Repair skill and gain a +2 to Repair tests.
Standard Gear: Bolter, Servo-arm.

D&D Next - First Impressions Part 1

I'm going to preface this by saying that I haven't read through much of the previous D&D Next playtest material; I've skimmed it, but since I don't have an opportunity to play anytime in the near future, I didn't really go in depth with it. I downloaded the newest packet earlier today, so here are my thoughts on the latest iteration of D&D. I haven't played D&D Next, and I'm mostly comparing it to my preferred edition, 4E. For this post, I'm only talking about the How to Play section; I'll be adding another post or two on the classes, spells, and other stuff later on.

How to Play

Reading the How to Play file, a couple things are jumping out at me. One, 4E's four defenses have been done away with and the game has gone back to AC only plus saving throws. I don't know that I like that, but splitting the saves into six sections by relevant ability scores looks like a good idea. I like that the ability scores are more relevant than they were in 4E, but I'm of the opinion that they could have done away with the traditional 3-18 scale in favor of making the modifiers the actual scores.

Perception has been changed, going to a "either Wisdom or Intelligence, depending on the situation" model. It's interesting, with Wisdom being used for general noticing of things, and Intelligence being used when looking for something specific, like searching for secret doors. At first glance, I like it more than the "just Wisdom, period" way previous D&D iterations did it.

Combat

Okay, so they've gone away from 4E's move/minor/standard way of doing things and gone to action/move. I don't know if I like that, because it's looking like there's going to be less stuff that players can do per round. On the upside, a lot of stuff like drawing a weapon, digging a potion out of a backpack, and things of that nature don't take up any part of an action, rather than being discrete actions of their own as in some previous games (3.X comes to mind).

A lot of the actions you can do in combat are described as opposed ability checks, like Strength vs. Dexterity. I like it, since it gives everyone a good set of actions that they can perform outside of their class features, and they're all using the same basic mechanic.

I'm not seeing any Delay Action for combat. There's a Ready Action, but a readied action requires you to specify a circumstance for your character to act, and if that circumstance (such as "when the troll comes out of the corner") doesn't happen, it doesn't look like you can take your readied action. If it was me, I'd either have a general Delay Action where you can act anytime in the initiative order lower than your original initiative, or have both Delay and Ready Action where you get a bonus for having a specific circumstance that you choose to act on.

So far everything I've seen has been tied to an ability check in one way or another. Melee attacks are Strength checks, ranged attacks are Dexterity checks, magic attacks go off the relevant ability score (Wisdom/Intelligence from what I've seen). It's not bad, actually. I like that everything is mechanically extremely similar; it's taking 3.X's philosophy of the core mechanic being a d20 roll and taking it one step further.

One thing I am immediately not a fan of: the return of bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage types. I'm cool with stuff like necrotic or psychic damage, as they're supernaturally different, but for some reason I've never been a big fan of the weapon damage types. Casters will (hopefully) have access to different spells to cover stuff like fire or cold damage, but this means that, just in case, weapon-based characters will want to carry around separate weapons (mace for fighting skeletons, sword for other stuff, etc.), which is going to be a problem if a character only has one magic weapon that doesn't work effectively for a particular combat.

They've done away with the bloodied condition, something I don't necessarily agree with. Now, death is your level plus your Constitution as a negative, so if you're level 5 with a 14 Constitution, you die at -19 hit points. I think it was easier to use bloodied as a measure of your health and as a death threshold (negative bloodied value), but this should also work. I just prefer the bloodied condition.

Spell Casting

Spell components and armor casting are back, something I have never been a fan of. Granted, it makes sense to balance casters against martial characters when you have stuff like sunder or disarm in the game, but I wasn't a particular fan of those actions either.

Concentrating on spells is back, though it doesn't look like you can interrupt a spell like you could in 3.X. Instead, it's for prolonging sustained effect, something I don't have a problem with. So, that's an upside.

Savage 40K - Part 1

Hacking Space Marines into Savage Worlds

As mentioned in my last post, I want to use Savage Worlds to play games set in the Warhammer 40K universe, particularly games revolving around Space Marines, much like FFG's Deathwatch RPG. To start, I'm working on the racial stats for Space Marines. Given that Space Marines are so much more powerful and impressive than normal humans, I'm ignoring Savage Worlds's advice on races having a net +2 ability on their racial traits. If I get players who want to play normal humans, I'll just give them extra XP to compensate for the power difference. I think the Space Marine is at +19 in terms of racial traits, roughly 50 XP. For Ranks, I'm sticking with the standard Rank system, but even Space Marines start at Novice, despite their massive advantage in terms of racial traits. So, a Novice Space Marine would be comparable to a 50 XP human, which would be at Veteran Rank.

At the moment, I've got the racial traits hammered out and one of the starting Professional Edges. The Librarian powers and Warp Backlash is being worked on, as are the rest of the Professional Edges. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to handle Chapters yet, but it will probably be via more Professional Edges to be taken at character creation. I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on this today, but hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow at some point.

Space Marine Racial Traits:

STR starts at d8 and can be raised to d12+2 via normal advancement, and to d12+4 with Expert and Master Edges

Vigor and Spirit start at d6

+1 Parry

+3 Size

+1 Toughness

In addition, Space Marines must choose one of the following Professional Edges at character creation: Apothecary, Assault Marine, Devastator Marine, Librarian (Arcane Background), Tactical Marine, Techmarine.

Professional Edges

Librarian (Arcane Background)

Arcane Skill - Psyker (Smarts)

Power Points - 10

Starting Powers - 3

Astartes Librarians are specially-trained psykers experienced in delving into the raw power of the warp to fuel their psychic powers.

Warp Backlash - When a Librarian rolls a 1 on his Psyker die (regardless of the Wild Die), he is automatically Shaken. On a critical failure, he rolls on the Warp Backlash table (currently in progress, mostly being based off of FFG's Deathwatch Warp Events and Perils of the Warp tables).

Hacking Savage Worlds to Warhammer 40K

The Idea

I'm a Warhammer 40K enthusiast. I've got a ton of the gaming miniatures, albeit mostly unpainted, and most of the Horus Heresy novels. I've played Deathwatch, Rogue Trader, and some Black Crusade, but I've never really been satisfied with the system; it's very rules-heavy and getting the most out of game play really requires a high level of system mastery. That's not always a bad thing, but I'd rather have something faster in play, without all the endless searching for bonuses and penalties, managing the dozens of different abilities from gear, and the complex rules for psykers.

The solution: Savage Worlds. I'll be mostly focusing on Deathwatch at first, because Space Marines are my favorite part of the setting. There's something about the idea of giant, genetically-modified post-humans in power armor bashing aliens and daemons in the face with swords that appeals to me. I think the high-action style of Savage Worlds would mesh really well with the cinematic nature of 40K, so here's a very rough draft of what I'm thinking for a rules hack.

What to Change

To get started, I want to lay out what I think I'm going to need rules for, and what I'd like to change/add to make the hack work. To that end, I've made a list.

1. Gear - I'm going to need stats for power armor, bolters, chainswords, and all the other gear that Space Marines use. I'd like to keep it as simple as possible, in keeping with the Savage Worlds theme of Fast, Fun, Furious, but gear is a big part of the Space Marine aesthetic, so I would also like to keep that relevant mechanically. It will be simpler than FFG's system, though.

2. Psykers - How to handle psykers shouldn't be too difficult at first. I'm planning on just using the Arcane Background (Psionics) edge, with the associated powers, but including rules for accidentally opening warp gates, corruption, and things of that nature. To keep the chaotic feel of the warp, I'll incorporate some random charts for corruption or warp events on failed rolls. If I decide to expand these rules later for Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader-style games, I'll probably have to create new powers for things like Astropaths or Navigators, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

3. Astartes Chapters - I think it's important to have at least some differentiation between Space Marines that comes from their particular Chapter. To that end, I'll probably be creating some Professional Edges that reflect that. This also goes for specialist Space Marines, like Chaplains, Techmarines, and Apothecaries.

4. The Bestiary - This one is probably going to be the most extensive section when all is said and done. I'd like to have stats for Eldar, Dark Eldar, Tyranids, Orks, Chaos, Tau, and anything else I might have forgotten. Another thing here I'd like to add is Horde rules. Nothing says Space Marine like mowing through a dozen enemies with a chainsword, so I'll probably be adapting the Deathwatch Horde rules to work with that theme.

5. Characters - Given that Space Marines surpass normal humans in every physical way, I'll be creating a custom race for them. I probably won't be adhering to the normal "net +2" guideline for races because of how impressive Space Marines are, but I'm not worrying about playing Space Marines alongside normal humans. If a situation comes up where someone wants to play a normal human, like an Inquisitor, I'll probably give a couple free Edges to make up for the racial difference, to balance things out in play.

I'm sure I'll be revising this list as I work on this hack, but these are the five key areas I'm going to focus on. The next post should be my thoughts and initial work on creating a Space Marine racial template.