Alright /tg/. I just got done with a bizarre chapter-creation session with one of my Deathwatch players, and I honestly have no idea how something I expected to be a semi-generic Ultramarines successor turned so bizarre. I need to explain to you how a bunch of smurfs were turned into a group of crazed, mask-wearing woodsmen who believe the Emperor is, quite literally, a tree.
>>44146480
Read up on Norse mythology. Specifically, the stuff pertaining to Yggdrasil.
>>44146480
Rolls for this chapter were weird. I was basically looking to help the player create a mostly codex-compliant chapter that would give him some broad spectrum guidelines/advice to follow in fighting (he's new to the tactical combat stuff of the 40k rpgs) while still allowing him to find his own path. To that end, I told him I'd be willing to allow him to generate a new chapter and set up its lore on the condition they were Ultramarines successors, mostly codex compliant, and I had the usual (but rarely-used) veto as GM.
So the first few rolls set the chapter as established 2 millenia back as wardens of an area, focusing on not being seen and close quarters warfare. Different, but nothing that strange. The really odd stuff started happening when he rolled for mutations.
See, the player not only rolled for the gene-seed to have been modded as a generational thing, but also managed to roll emerging mutations as an Ultramarine. The smurfs only have a 10% chance of mutation, but a, "don't worry, the seed of Guilliman is strong and there are none purer" and a dice roll later, the chapter was left photo-sensitive eyes that were actually really good for night fighting and a decreased resistance to poison.
>>44146555
I actually adore Norse mythology, but this went a very different direction
>>44146587
So the time came to roll for the chapter's homeworld, which would be a rather big deal due to their status as a standing force specifically created to protect said area. It came up as a Jungle Hive world they had distant rule of, so the player decided the marines would live out in isolated compounds away from the hives, recruiting from the madmen who lived in and around the lower levels of the hive, which were being overrun by plants and jungle beasts. Things seemed like they might've strayed back towards normal as the player rolled and found that despite the genetic oddities, the chapter was codex-compliant and they kept the Ultra's solo ability. But then he rolled up that his chapter had a special cult (rolling that as getting both the Chapter Cult and Esoteric traits), mounted beasts, and the weird combination of Friend: Administratum, Enemy: Chaos Space Marines, and Xenos Bane skill upgrade tables.
Even stranger was when I had him roll for chapter strength. I told him that due to some plot ideas and that the chapter was young, they would be at proper fighting strength but he could roll to get over-strength.
I swear to you, he rolled a 2 and then three 1s in a row.
Now, at this point, neither of us really knew how we were going to make half of this shit work, but fuck if we were gonna just reroll like pussies. I told him that we were going to say that the chapter was nearly wiped out, but they'd recovered numbers by recruiting the locals en-mass and not putting as much focus on the quality. It was at that point we began to put together coherent lore and the descent into tree-worshipping space marines began.
>>44146731
Also, apologies for the slow typing. I've never been that quick.
Anyways, after about an hour of discussion, we settled on the lore. Back during the Dark Age of Technology some human colonists decided to go to this middle-of-nowhere jungle world and decided rather than live in the hi-tech urban utopias the rest of humanity lived in, they were going to grow their settlements and tools, using organic materials for whatever they could, augmenting what they couldn't grow with more traditional DAoTech. To that end, a new kind of tree was genetically engineered that would produce wood as strong as metal that would thrive by consuming the rest of the environment for nutrients. Life was actually pretty nice for a while, entire hives actually being shaped from this new super-wood.
Both the Age of Strife and Great Crusade came and went with this jungle world being left alone, and the planet was rediscovered a little bit after the Horus Heresy. Civilization had managed to survive as kings established themselves at the top of the hives and projected their forces down the trunks. They'd lost the capability to actively shape this super-wood as they used to be able to, and their general degradation of technology saw them no longer able to keep the monsters and plants of the jungles from infesting the lower levels thoroughly. This all mattered little to the Administratum agents who found the place though. All they saw was a world covered in naturally-growing material that was in some cases as strong DAoT alloys. They swiftly converted the local population of the mid and upper hives and set up harvesting operations to make use of this material they had a decent chance of claiming Admech didn't have a claim on. They quickly found that this stuff couldn't be grown off-world, so the call was put out for a protection of this valuable resource to be put in place.
>>44146731
Could have the whole tree worship be due to the hive world's worship is based around heavy industry but harvesting and protecting the forest ( their life blood) the space marines were seen as the druids of the forest never seen but always helping those in need out when skulking round practicing being unseen / hunting the local mega fauna.
Due to the massive loses they had a massive influx of scouts and the more codex opinion was lost due to the influx as in time the old timers who saw him more as a man died off or turned back to the planets religious beliefs.
Could d you wanted to explain that part have it tie into an ancient seer cult from the long night who prophesied mankind's savior planted like the tree of life on a golden throne.
>>44146877
The cult naturally surpressed during the crusade. But was then during/ after the heresy (there were two cults? Battling overwho was the man on the throne? ) allowed to continue as it worked for the admin.
>>44146877
You're actually touching on the reasons a bit. Read on.
>>44146867
The Ultramarines answered the call as they had swelled to the point of wishing to create a new chapter, and setting up a warden force for the subsector the planet was in could help serve a political purpose. See, many people criticize the Ultramarines for keeping their military forces and those of their sired chapters close to Ultramar, which has left many quietly accusing of the Ultramarines being more loyal to their own sector that the Imperium as a whole. Seeking to stifle such rumors, when the request came for a guardian-chapter to be placed in the ass-end of nowhere, on the other side of the Imperium from Ultramar, the Ultramarines jumped at the chance to make a point. For the first time in their history, a sired chapter was sent far away where it would grow up without the influence of its codex-worshiping peers. Some quietly feared this would breed deviation from the codex, but none would dare publicly claim a chapter directly descended from the Ultramarines proper could fall so far.
When they arrived the young chapter quickly found the inhabitants of the hive-trees to be mostly unfit for recruitment. Defense from the jungle beasts was not a vicious test of survival, but rather something handled by simply sealing off passages leading lower tho those overrun by the beasts. They instead found their recruits in the Hive's underlevels which rested at the level of the jungle floor and descended into the roots. The thing is, in their haste to get harvesting populations set up, it was found that the Ecclesiarchy had basically overlooked the populations at the base and deep in the roots in its conversion efforts.
The ones in the lower level only survived by going into the depths of the root system or otherwise finding shelter in the organic structures which once served as "suburbs" to the hive tree back during the DAoT, which had long since started growing wild on their own.
This is really neat. Keep posting, OP. Might have to get some sleep, but I hope this thread is still here in the morning.
>>44146480
>tree worshipping loyalist wood fetishists
this is probably gonna end up as one of the single weirdest chapters i've read about, i can feel it, i'm also trying to imagine how the hell can chaos wrap its mind around it, this has gotta be weird to the slanneshi's.
>>44146971
I would say they rely on melta technology and the hive has stcs tech for "tree trimmers" which are wielded as close combat cutting and area weapons.
Or instead the marines due to their long life spans have grown an affinity to the forge world spirit that has arisen in the overgrown steel forests and cabling vines.
They should definitely have their own drydocks in space and a orbital fortress monastery as this planet is pure admantium to the Imperium.
>>44146480
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zl4c2n6y97A
>>44146971
The people of the roots had come to revere the trees as providers of shelter and materials that were responsible for their survival. They found shelter from the massive beasts of the jungles deep in the wood and roots, and what they couldn't hide from they learned to kill using weapons forged from this unnaturally sturdy wood. They worshiped lineages of trees, giving thanks to mighty parent trees for saplings which would form homes or be harvested to create tools, and would ensure their dead would live with them forever by giving the bodies of the dead to the roots to be consumed.
Also importance was their societal importance on stealth. They existed by keeping themselves isolated and secret, living by scavenging the kills of larger beasts and slaying smaller ones that dared go too deep into the roots. They wouldn't have left their secluded homes at all were it not for the poison.
See, the city-hive was never designed to be wholly organic. Things like transportation, manufacturing, and water supply were supplemented by traditional metal industrial components. Unfortunately for the people in the roots, all the chemicals had long since seeped down into the soil, and the ability to find clean water was inconsistent. Still, they survived due to due taking a variety of plants from the area to craft various remedies and purifying agents. Unfortunately for them, the most important of ingredients for such things wasn't found anywhere near the Hive tree. These massive red fruits were instead first found at the edges of the "suburbs".
Now, going outside the roots had always been dangerous, but it wasn't as bad in the beginning since there were some treehomes in the suburbs to use as launching points for search groups, but as time wore on they had to go farther and farther to get more of these fruits. By the time the Ultras found these root peoples, undertaking the search for these fruits had become a task comparable to a holy quest.
Question is Op is what is the ecology of the fauna that they generally hunt/ could even go the spirits of the jungle Nima companions with cyber upgrades; the older survivors more heavily augmented as the sustained injuries.
Since they are ultras you could even right it up that they are setting up a mini ultramar
>>44147127
That's actually a good idea with the mounts. That was the only bit neither of us really knew what to do with, so you may have just helped us out.
>>44147106
These fruit seekers were among the quickest, stealthiest, and most cunningly brutal of the root peoples and the new Ultras were quick to recognize them as potential recruits. It was perfect really, since many were not expected to come back anyway. They would wait and watch for those who completed the search more than once, abducting the seeker on his way back from his second or third successful find. Leaving the fruit where they dropped, they then initiated the recruit using more normal means. For about a century, all was well, but that was when enemy parties finally learned of the value of the planet.
A Khornate warband had caught wind of the posting of a chapter to this isolated world and relished the the thought of challenging the hated loyalists in running fights throughout the forests teeming mega-fauna. The Ultras had established isolated compounds deep within the jungles, relatively unconcerned with the Hive Trees who couldn't provide them the recuits they needs. The Khornates descended upon the Ultramarine compounds and although they were eventually drive off, it came at a very high price.
The Ultramarine's usual tactics were unsuited to jungle warfare where the trees were as well-armored as tanks and couldn't be burned away. Meanwhile the Khornates enjoyed being able slaughter they way on foot among the jungles where Ultramarine vehicles and ranged specialists couldn't touch them. It was humiliation how the noble Sons of Ultramar could be layed low by a numerically-inferior force of madmen with axes and no tanks or air support.
>>44147227
Could have the hero of the chapter as the chief apothecary, who over saw the recovery of the geneseed; allowing for the massive recruiting drive, maybe even have him having taken over after the chapter master died.
Due to the massive loss of brothers they had a massive influx of gene seed and currently the 10th company is larger than normal as they only raise up brothers to fill spots.
Like the running battle in the jungle explaining the devo of the chapter and the change in tactics.
It's a sweet idea for a chapter
I like this, keep posting the fluff OP
>>44147227
>most cunningly brutal
So that chapter is made of Orks?
No but seriously, this sounds really great. Let the character meet up with an Original Ultramarine at some watchstation and let the akwardness begin!
>>44147276
Something like that, but the thing is instead of just having a large 10th, the tactics of scouts and the subtle became the rule instead of the exception for the chapter as a whole.
I like the idea about the apothecary though, may steal.
>>44147300
That's where this is going. Basically my player is gonna be the first of his people to really go back to the "civilized" Imperium. His actions will shape how people feel about the chapter.
>>44147227
Bleh, typos everywhere. Exhaustion is showing.
Things would only get worse after the encounter with the Khornates. Not only had the Ultra's numbers been driven down, but now word would spread among the servants of Chaos of a world with wood as strong as many metals guarded by a weakened chapter ripe for the reaping. They knew it would only be a matter of time before their enemies would return, and they needed more members. Abductions of the fruit-seekers went into overdrive, and the normal brainwashing and mental conditioning was largely cut in favor of increased savagery and decreased training time. So common did the abductions become, that abducting another seeker to be transformed became a mandatory part of a marine's maturation process. The result marines were cunning, brutal, and for the most part didn't buy into traditional warfare. You could see the differences too. In the face of supply shortages and the destruction of equipment during the battle, they began to replace damaged/missing armor with copies crafted with local wood, stained to the color of dark ash, which they covered in carvings that were both decorative and would allow them to affix clumped up foliage and such as impromptu gillie suits.
>>44147300
Hard that sounds hilarious.
Fuck that pick is hilarious
>>44147330
Like it; especially the Gillie suit camo.
>>44147330
The Ultras didn't care for the deviancy, but their pride was far too great to admit they required assistance. To them, this abnormal behavior was a temporary trifle, and a sort of "old guard" mentality formed amongst Ultra survivors.
Meanwhile, the tribal mentality of the virtue of the stealthy hunter became the dominant opinion amongst the new recruits. While the Old Guard called for the head-on approach, to the new recruits the idea of conventional war was foolhardy. Their existence had depended on staying out of the way of things that could crush them and going for the neck without ceremony when they were force to fight.
So deeply ingrained were the values of stealth and cunning that the new tribal recruits refused to recruit as the older Ultras had with tranquilizer round and rifle. To prove themselves worthy of the soon-to-be-recruited's respect, they would subdue their prey with bare hands, never being detected until their current prey and future brother's neck was in their hands and their vision beginning to swim. To these new hunters, the reason for the loss against to the Khornates was obvious to them: The Ultras had tried to face a beast as a beast, and thus they had been crushed. As time wore on, the ranks of the Old Guard withered, unable to adapt, but while their hunter successors would apply what they could of the codex to their struggle, they never set aside the beliefs in the need to see without being seen.
>>44147060
I'm just imagining melta weed whackers.
>>44147497
Okay, these typos were terrible but the ones in what I'm trying to type up now are worse. I'll let this sit overnight and continue when I wake up. If someone could toss a bump in every few hours to make sure it does pg15 or whatever I'd appreciate it.
>>44147663
>*doesn't
>Make sure it doesn't.
Yeah, I'm goin to bed. I promise I'll come back since this seems to have gotten people interested
>>44147683
And yet we still don't even know what the chapter is called.
Also Bump.
This has been pretty interesting to me.
If OP can clear something up when he returns, how is the super-hard-wood crafted? Does it grow into a certain shape, have to be carved with lasers, something else?
>>44151674
>crafted
* shaped
>>44151674
>>44151694
I like to think that the wood is made by Nanobots and is programmed. With a variety of different strands and types being used from ibeams, to cabling "growing" the hives themselves maintain and repair the superstructure; so while the internal machines have broken down the actual hive doesn't suffer from hive quakes and deterioration like other hives.
The hive could even be still expanding underground; having never been told to stop; it continues to grow to the original plans.
Woke back up. After grabbing some breakfast I'll continue posting. But first...
>>44150323
We never actually came up with a name for the original Ultra-proliferated chapter. We only had the name adopted by the new group. The next posts will detail. First one to come up with a boring Ultra-ish name gets to name the old chapter.
>>44151674
The wood is as hard as ceramite while not being quite as heavy (although that's far from light), hence its value. The problem is while the original hippies that created it back in the DAoT had techniques to cause the trees to grow in certain ways they wanted "shaping it", such techniques have long been lost. Combine that with how the stuff doesn't grow anywhere else and that the guardian marines place religious value upon it, it ends with the wood being an extremely valuable resource but nothing that will dramatically reshape 40k.
Crafting anything from the wood is an exercise in patience. The root people deciding to carve up a tree up to make tools and weapons is a group-effort that takes weeks of work. To them it's worth it though, since that shit doesn't break. This is also why the trees are so protective. While normal trees have to fear burrowing creatures and parasites, nothing can penetrate the bark.
The SMs have it somewhat easier due to their crazy strength. Those decorative carvings on the wooden inlays of their armor I mentioned? A single marine can do those, but it takes long enough its seen as a ritualistic or meditative act. Carving a symbol of remembrance of a fallen brother or a great victory into ones armor is a very big deal.
>>44147578
This is actually roughly how the established industry harvests the trees. Before tiny, detailed components are made, they do the big-picture work with meltas.
>>44153147
Probably gonna steal this. I basically said "the trees are DAoTech, and therefore basically magic", but the nanobots thing would actually make a lot of sense. Like, the original hippies would've been able to communicate with the machines, but now no one knows what's up. This could result in a cool subplot with admech, who could either be extremely interested in (or repulsed by if its AI) the prospect of crazy DAoT nanotech.
>>44153427
Could have it that the techmarines of the chapter have some insight into the Nanobots; and can communicate with the machine spirit, the new installations are grown instead of built from the forests / now during combat on the planet the trees create mazes for attackers.
>>44153913
I like, I like. Perhaps the locals have found ways to slightly alter the nanobots to grow certain ways, using methods they perceive as religiously appealing to the spirits in the wood. Perhaps the SMs continue this tradition, much to the frustration of Admech who attempt to study what's going on.
>>44153399
Pancakes have been consumed, continuing writefaggotry.
As the mental conditioning was further set aside in the name of maintaining numbers, local religious beliefs began to be used by the new recruits to understand their news status as defenders of mankind. See, the root people had always believed that the eldest and most powerful of the trees could actually move about the forest and slay the greatest of the jungle beasts in the name of protecting the people they'd made covenant with. It was obvious to the new recruits that the Emperor's crusade to destroy evil and give protection to humanity was a sign that he was one of the revered God Ents, one who had grown so powerful it strode across the sky and made war on the stars.
So when they were told of their duty to the Emperor, it wasn't just a matter owing a debt to someone who died trying to save you and gave you some implants. The Emperor had, through his son Roboute Guilliman and his sons the Ultramarines, given to the people of the roots the capability to merge with the mighty essence of the beast-slaying ents which safeguarded their people. There could be no greater honor.
This also fit into their ideas of ancestry, as saplings of older, powerful trees were believed to carry the power of that which spawned them within. To slight anything made of wood was to slight that which spawned it, so the SM's pride in their lineage just made sense.The Primarchs were understood as mighty children of the Emperor, and the SMs in turn mighty children of them. Everything went back to Emperor's branches.
>>44154572
The imperial cult also assimilated well due to its espousing of the belief that the dead would reside at the emperor's side. The root people had long believed in the need to return wood taken from the tree for tools so that the tree could reincorporate its given power. The root peoples extended this idea to their own bodies, and as such the dead and tools which were no longer needed or somehow broken were placed among the roots to be reassimilated by the trees. Unlike our normal trees, these super-wood trees would literally consume anything left around them for an extended period of time for nutrients, even metals, rather than just growing around them. The people believed that they were not only giving up their selves to the trees as the trees had for them, but that the dead lived on forever in its bark.
Then, when a new tool needed to be created, the people would look to the bark of the mighty trees which they believed contained the souls of the dead, believing new tools carved of its bark would contain a fraction of the dead's power. The new marines continued this tradition, and often the spirits believed to be contained in the tree are invoked to become part of the new equipment being created. Every marine can cite from memory the names of fallen battle brothers they believe to reside in the different pieces of their wargear, and it is common for a marine to return to the tree-grave of a particularly close comrade to invite that comrade's spirit to rejoin them on the field of battle. Admech quietly mutters of unorthodox machine spirits and the average member of the imperial cult is quick to denounce these ideas, but both groups have isolated reports of their members seeing faces appear and disappear in both the bark of the trees and the wooden components of the marine's wargear.
>>44154831
Damn dat Fluff. I really like it, and my head is growing the Idea that they might treat Geneseed like literal seeds, as they are basicly part Tree now and thus grow the Seeds from which further Astartes may grow.
I actually really love the Idea how they might even go and call their own Scouts Saplings or something like this.
Also their Chaplains beeing more druidic/shamanistic and maybe help a freshly promoted Scout choose the wood out of which his first Piece of Gear will be crafted.
>>44154993
Oooh, that's a actually a really cool idea. Canonized.
>>44154831
Still, for a long time these practices occurred only with the disapproval of Ultra-borne Old Guard, who wished for brothers not so riddled with superstition and irrationality. This attitude changed with the ascension of Chapter Master Fraxinus, former captain of the second company who was recruited not after retrieving fruit, but after slaying a great beast to save another rootman on his quest. Fraxinus was among the first of the root-born recruits, and unlike the other locals was seen to put great stock in the codex's focus on conventional war. Fraxinus was put in charge in the hope that he would help show his misguided brothers the correct path and restore unity amongst the chapter.
In a way, the Ultras did get what they want. What they didn't expect was for the newly-ascended Chapter Master to chaste both groups. To Fraxinus the progenitor marines had become stubborn and arrogant, killing their own minds rather than following Guilliman's example of being a leader who could adapt and succeed no matter the situation. His local kin he deriding as ignorant of their role as warriors of the God Emperor. It was obvious to Fraxinus a Space Marine couldn't know who they truly were by acting shadowy wardens. To be a Space Marine was to be as the mighty Emperor and the Ents: to aggressively stride forth and slay the enemies of Man. It was to Crusade.
>>44155236
While I'm still thinking about a name for the pre-tree Ultras, might i humbly request the name this chapter calls itself by? I wish to run a deathwatch game in the next months and would like to include all the really fleshed out /tg/ stuff i'm finding (which at the moment are only the Emperors Nightmares) as a choice for my players.
Do i have permission to tell them about these warriors clad in iron bark?
>>44155583
I'd be honored if you used them. The name is below and stats will be posted in a bit.
>>44155236
Under Fraxinus it was decided that the 10th company would remain on-planet to guard the jungles from the shadows as they had for centuries, gaining experience as warriors by slaying local beasts. While the areas around the hives would be left infested to ensure the root peoples would still produce cunning warriors, the rest would head deep into the jungle armed only with blades and scout carapace to slay as many monsters as they could regardless of size or lethality.
The other nine companies would travel to relieve an imperial world in a neighboring sub-sector under siege by a WAAAGH led by Warboss Skulchuka. No one knew the marines were coming. The attacking orks and besieged imperials were both shocked to see a massive ship that looked like a space marine battle barge with massive trees growing out of the hull, roots penetrating deep into the ship's superstructure, come screaming into low orbit disgorging assault shuttles.
At first, Skulchuka was endlessly pleased to finally have an enemy worthy of his attention, but these marines didn't fight like they were supposed to. Where the Emperor's angels of death were supposed to be a blatant, uncompromising force of purgation, these marines covered themselves in sticks and shrubbery before tearing deep into ork lines in the middle of the night. Within a week of their arrival Skulchuka and his ranking nobs were dead while the rest of the horde fell into chaos. When the nine departed companies rejoined the tenth back on their homeworld months later, they were no longer divided. They were now an ashwood-clad warrior brotherhood who rechristened themselves as the Shadow Birchmen, vowing to purge the Emperor's enemies and safeguard their home through a combination of stealth and speed followed by surging, overwhelming power.
>>44155945
Finally having found themselves as warriors, the Birchmen vowed to never again stand idle and divided. Under Fraxinus they developed an expertise in fighting the xenos monsters which plagued the Imperium via stealth and brutality as they had the jungle beasts that plagued their home. Throughout the sector Imperial force after Imperial force was shocked to see sudden surges in their battlefronts as troops advancing in the morning would find nothing but enemy positions that had been demolished by bolter fire and corpses hacked apart by chain and power weapons. Rumors spread among the troops of wood-clad giants that could melt into the surrounding foliage, while a few even began to speak in whispers of living trees somehow animated by the Emperor's wrath that were always keenly watching those who trespassed into their forests.
Despite their preference of staying out of the spotlight, the Birchmen seemed to have maintained some of their predecessor's charisma. Their interactions with the Imperial military tend to be short and awkward for those unfamiliar with their quirks, but they are noted to surprisingly amiable, looking upon mortals who choose to serve on the frontlines despite their fragility with a quiet respect. Even in the realm of social interactions, Birchmen show a strong preference for quiet observation, saving their words so that they will have more meaning when they finally do choose to speak.
>>44156294
Much to the surprise of those who observe the Birchmen in combat, they actually are still a codex-adherent chapter. Religion and personality quirks aside, they still maintain their ten companies and corresponding equipment in accordance to lines set by Guilliman, the only quirk being that the tenth company stays on back on their homeworld as wardens while the other nine companies will perform their own scouting while on crusade. While unorthodox, this keeps even the Birchmen devastator squads familiar with the use of stealth and melee combat.
It should also be noted that it is a mistake to assume the Birchmen don't place a great value on their status as descendants of Ultramarines. As discussed earlier, ancestry is given religious connotation, and while they will admit that their ancestors were stubborn in adapting to their new situation as wardens of their forest homeworld, to insult the Ultramarines or Guilliman as stagnant or incompetent is to insult the Birchmen. This kinship causes respect to be extended to other space marines as well, since to the Birchmen they are all related through the Emperor. Any conversation speaking ill of their brethren is decidedly off the table, and Birchmen are noted to quickly display uncharacteristic anger when one Marine fails to display appropriate respect for another. The Birchmen currently have no standing rivalries with any other chapters, likely in large part due to their ideas of respect, and barring the most grievous of betrayals that is unlikely to change.
>>44156699
Still, what every Birchmen knows but dares not say is that there is one thing they fear above all else. Although only two millennia old, the chapter had been required to fundamentally change itself to survive in their unorthodox situation, and such things aren't often looked fondly upon by the other sons of Guilliman.
While their more philosophical members will point to how the Codex ultimately calls for adaptable warriors with its depth of content, many Birchmen realize how their chapter has made a point of not journeying too far beyond their homeworld. Also notable is how despite the chapter's founding as a political statement by the Ultramarines, they've pointedly avoided contact with the chapters descended from Ultramar. While they get along well with other chapters and some have even forged great friendships with them, the Ultramar-borne members of their own chapter are all long dead and Fraxinus too has passed on. Who is left that can positively represent them to their long-missing, codex-devout parents? Above death, above dishonor, and to some even above even Heresy, the Birchmen fear the rejection of the parent chapter.
>>44157035
Still, while they may play the part of guerrilla fighters, the Birchmen are no cowards. They have been called to lend their expertise to His most-holy Deathwatch, and though they fear the eyes of Ultramar being drawn to them, they will never forsake the Emperor's call to service.
Their chosen candidate will either prove their worthiness in the eyes of Ultramar or will help dictate their place in the Imperium as bastard sons of Guilliman. Whatever the result, the Birchmen will be ready, prowling among the trees, waiting for the best moment to strike.
------------------------------------------------------
Well, that's the lore dump of what is by far the strangest chapter I've ever generated. I'll answer questions/accept suggestions while I eat dinner and put together their proper stats for posting.
>>44157365
Name: Shadow Birchmen
Battlecry: Silent, hand gesture of luck to companions
Heraldry: Large jungle tree with fallen red fruit at base, simlar to pic
Colours: Ashy Black and Brown, covered in camouflaging debris
Reason for Founding:
Standing Force
Founding Era:
38th Millennium
Gene Seed:
Ultramarines, Altered Stock, Mutated
Gene Seed Deficiencies:
Oversensitive Occulobe
Lost Zygote (Preomnor)
Demeanor:
See, But Don't Be Seen
Characteristic Modifiers:
+5 WS, +5 Fel
Chapter Flaw:
Chapter Cult
Figure of Legend:
Chapter Master
Deeds of Legend:
Bane of Orks
Home World:
Jungle Hive World (Distant Rule)
Chapter Ogranization:
Codex Chapter
Combat Doctrine:
Close Combat
Solo Mode Ability:
Parent Chapter (Favoured Son)
Squad Mode Offensive Stance:
Parent Chapter (Lead By Example)
Squad Mode Defensive Stance:
Parent Chapter (Rally Cry)
Special Equipment:
Special Mount (Undecided*)
Chapter Beliefs:
Esoteric Beliefs
Chapter Status:
Nominal
Chapter Friends:
Administratum
Chapter Enemies:
Chaos Space Marines (Khornate)
Chapter Advance Tables:
Xenos Bane
*Having a catch-all beast for transport may a hassle for the GM to handle depending on setting. Talk with player about what would work with game.
