Geneseed Traits

[Motorbike Mike]

Good evening my brothers, sisters, automatons and serfs.

 

I apologise in advance if this information is anywhere else already, but my search so far has proved fruitless.

I've tried searching the site but its very buggy and the rest of the net doesn't seem to have anything else either. Alas, I must not have the required clearance to access this section of the Mechanicums Archives.

 

What I'm looking for is information on the traits of Space Marine Geneseed. I'm creating my own chapter and I'm really enjoying the details, I've already written up their star system, home planets etc but I want to know what style of combat and disciplines to give them. This would surely come from the gene seed and their primarchs teachings.

 

If any of you folks would be able to help, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

Mike.

[Olis]

When you say traits, do you mean how they physically affect the recipient (like suddenly growing fangs) or do you mean mental attributes inherited (such as stubbornness)?

[Motorbike Mike]

Hi there Olisredan,

 

I meant the attributes really, such as the stubbornness or their preference to lightning strikes etc.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike.

[darth_giles]

I meant the attributes really, such as the stubbornness or their preference to lightning strikes etc.

Some of that is more Nurture than Nature. For example, the Black Templars are of Fist stock, but their combat doctrine is almost the polar opposite of their progenitor chapter's

[Veteran Sergeant]

Gene seed doesn't do anything like that. There are some Chapters which have developed negative traits like the Blood Angels' rage. Some other that have mutated strangely (Raven Guard being extremely pale with black eyes). And some that have lost the ability to support the organs (Imperial Fists have no SusAn or Betcher's Gland).

 

I think you're talking about the traits and battle preferences of the parent Legions. This can be somewhat misleading. Just because a parent legion prefers one type of warfare, doesn't mean that the Successor will be the same way. For example, the Aurora Chapter prefers armored assaults, but the Ultramarines make no such preference. Being successors of the White Scars didn't drive the Mantis Warriors to bike and speeder based warfare, etc. So don't think you have to pick a specific parent Chapter in order to use a certain kind of warfare.

 

If you need a quick and dirty source, I suggest the Lexicanum. http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/First_Founding#.UPSXuW_3otE That's a good place to start. You can find all the First Founding Legions. Obviously, you need to stick with the loyalist ones, since there haven't been any successors of the traitor legions. Well, officially at least.

 

A quick and dirty, and by no means comprehensive:

 

Blood Angels: Codex chapter with slight variation to account for geneseed defect. Somewhat inclined to close assault based warfare, in part because they suffer from the Black Rage due aforementioned defect.

 

Dark Angels: Codex Chapter, with slight variation. 1st Company all Terminators, 2nd Company all bikes and speeders. Have a strange attraction to wearing hoodie bathrobes. Pure gene seed.

 

Imperial Fists: Codex Chapter. Sometimes referenced as being specialized at defensive and siege warfare, even though neither of those kinds of warfare are particularly well suited to Space Marines. Use or ignore that bit of fluff at your will. Missing SusAn, and Betcher's Gland.

 

Iron Hands: Ties to the Mechanicum. Like hacking body parts off and replacing with cybernetics. Not a lot of Terminators. Essentially pure geneseed, but known for being melancholic party poopers.

 

Raven Guard: Codex Chapter with slight variation. Like to use feints, flanking maneuvers, hit and run, etc. Reputation for being sneaky. Geneseed has malfunctioning Melanchromic organ that makes their skin pale white. Missing Mucranoid and Betcher's Gland

 

Salamanders: Codex Chapter with slight variation. Like flamethrowers and meltaguns. Geneseed makes them have jet black skin and red eyes. Can be fixed with photo editors. Sometimes noted for being extremely humanitarian and reported to spend time living amongst humans on their home world, which doesn't make a ton of sense since Space Marines spend ridiculous amounts of their time roaming around the galaxy looking for fights. But we'll roll with it because it sounds cool.

 

Space Wolves: No successors. Their geneseed goes haywire when not applied to native inhabitants of Space Wolf homeworld of Fenris. One attempt was made, ended in mutation and Chaos. Which is good, because the galaxy only needs one excessively hairy Vikings in Space trope. ;)

 

Ultramarines: Codex Chapter. Renowned for being the greatest of all Space Marine Chapters and masters of warfare. Literally wrote the book on being a Space Marine. Sometimes that book is absurdly poorly written as being idiots who have some Warfighting for Dummies guidebook that everyone has memorized. The first iteration where it's the definitive guide to being an awesome Space Marine is true. The second is the domain of writers that have no idea what they are doing, lol. Pure gene seed.

 

White Scars: Codex Chapter, with variations. Space Mongols that love bikes and speeders and sweet mustaches. Hit and run, highly mobile warfare. Hate dreadnoughts. No gene seed defects.

[Motorbike Mike]

Thats a great post Veteran Sergeant, thanks.

I think I was a little confused as to the whole situation, I've always been a painter and I've never really delved this deep into the details before.

 

Thanks again.

[Brother Argent]

I believe that in the long run it all comes back down to the Nature vs Nurture debate. Certain things, such as the Blood Angels Red Thirst and Black Rage, the skin and eye discolorations of the Salamanders and Raven Guard, even to a point the savagery of the White Scars are inherited from their parent Chapter. Other things like the Dark Angels distrust and secretiveness, the White Scars hit and run preference and even the Imperial Fists stubbornness are more things taught/trained into marines. Think of the Chapter just like a child. A Chapter will always inherit their parents skin colour, hair colour, heights etc, as well as certain genetic diseases. They are more taught, however, their parents love of music, how to treat others and certain undesirable traits such alcoholism, abusive nature or anger management issues. Basically think along those lines and you should be fine. If its something genetic, its probably going to pass down the line. If its about attitude its more a 50/50 chance.

[Octavulg]

From the Octaguide:

 

"Geneseed sources and their effects

There are ten possible gene-seed sources for Space Marine Chapters. The most common of these is the Ultramarines - their gene-seed, through them and their descendants, makes up two-thirds of all Space Marine Chapters. When in doubt, it is good to go with them. Their genestock is strong, their doctrine is Codex but they have successors who diverge in a variety of ways, and thus you can basically get away with anything. Most of the other sources make less sense, for various reasons.

 

The Imperial Fists are the second most common, despite their two non-functioning organs. Their geneseed carries a hint of stubbornness and self-sacrifice. People love them to pieces, mostly because they're not the Ultramarines, but as the second-most common geneseed source, you're still being plausible.

 

The Salamanders geneseed is described as pure, though their reflexes may be slow. Recent fluff has them all dark and demonic-looking, which is tied in part to the gene-seed, but plenty of people have ignored that. Their lack of numbers is likely responsible for their relative lack of successors - the Storm Giants and Cursed Founding Black Dragons are thought to be related to them, so there is precedent for successors as well.

 

The Dark Angels geneseed is described as one of the purest and least degraded, but the High Lords are apparently "reluctant" to use it in the founding of new Chapters. The DA Codex mentions a number of Dark Angels successors beyond the Second Founding ones, and also mentions the Disciples of Caliban being founded at the request of the DA Chapter Master. Though this presumably took place within the context of the next Founding, the debate that resulted suggests that the DA geneseed may have been frowned upon even at that time. Thus, if making a DA successor, an earlier date makes more sense - though any date can work.

 

The Iron Hands are widely believed to be crazy because of their geneseed (and boy, are they crazy). On the other hand, the Mechanicus quite likes them. Thus, while successors would seem unlikely, they are still possible.

 

The White Scars are believed to have contracted a hint of savagery from their tribal recruits, which has apparently entered the geneseed. All the successor Chapters demonstrate the same traits, so it is possible that they have had no more successors. Certainly, it seems likely that their geneseed is less common than the more pure ones.

 

The Blood Angels geneseed has fallen into disuse as their Flaw became more pronounced. The Lamenters, of the Cursed Founding, were an attempt to correct this flaw - considering how the Cursed Founding went, it seems unlikely that many (or, indeed, any) Blood Angels Chapters have been founded since. It also seems likely that the use of the seed would have tapered off some time before an attempt to fix it.

 

The Raven Guard have mutations to the Melanchromic Organ that make their skin lighten and eyes and hair darken over the years, so that they eventually look like Corax. The Mucranoid and Betcher's Gland both do not exist. Additionally, their geneseed is so damage they require regular supplementary shipments from Terra, which has a corresponding effect on their recruitment cycle. Presumably their three successors (the Revilers, the Black Guard and the Raptors) suffer from similar problems. Thus, they would seem to make a very poor choice for a gene-seed source in a new founding.

 

The Space Wolves are generally felt to not be used to found new Chapters - their geneseed is unstable, their only known Successor chapter collapsed in genetic instability, and they're cranky and iconoclastic. It has been a long-standing tenet of the Liber's DIY Guide that Space Wolf Geneseed Is Not Used, and I find it hard to differ with their reasoning."

 

The Wolves have the whole Wulfen thing which I will not go into here - creeping werewolfism, basically.

[Motorbike Mike]

@Octavulg, thats a fantastic post, brother, thank you.

 

I'm greatful for everyones input on this, its really helped clear up my understanding. I'll post the stuff I've got to my WIP thread later today and link you via here.

 

Thanks,

Mike.