"T5" Leak

[Kais Klip]

Quick Question. 

 

A few of the "newer" characters, namely Endryd Haar and the Nemean Reaver, not to mention the new Abaddon stats (though I'd rather not distract with these), are sporting T5 alongside S4 for some reason. Is there any fluff-to-crunch justification for this?

 

Now Autek Mor rolls with T5 as well, but one he sports S5 as well, and two he's implied to be something other than purebred Astartes. 

 

What's out of the question is the obvious parallel between bigger size/higher toughness, since characters like Polux are still T4, as well as that infamous Guardsman toting a Heavy Bolter all by himself, signaling these are merely men who are stronger than their compatriots, but still sport the same mortal constitution. What would be the explanation for a character profile going the other way around? 

 

I understand the fluff/crunch disparity within the game, but I'd like to hear some likely explanations for some stand-in fluff I'm writing. 

[Noserenda]

Id assume because they are tougher... (Flippant i know :P )

Haar and the Reaver also have some shade in their genic history off the top off my head and plausibly extensive reconstruction work, especially in the case of Mor ofc.

Abaddon has the Mark of Nurgle built in ;) 

Im not a big fan of Bigger => Better in 40k but it does seem to be baked in :/

[Kais Klip]

Shady genetic history would explain it, but it would also seem as a little cop out. Although, muddy little genetic pearls sired in Old Night floating up during the Heresy storm  does sound quite cool, now that I think about it. 

 

I'm just trying to rationalize the amount of "reconstruction" needed to justify an increase in toughness. Neither Kor Phaeron nor Luther ever went beyond t3, so simple bio-augmentation, gene-splicing and muscle-grafting doesn't seem to cut it. Neither does warp trickery short of allegiance to Nurgle, as again shown by both Kor Phaeron and Luther, and this is already on top of a Half-Astartes body. Even most Iron Hands don't touch t5 until their lower half is replaced by wheels, bolters and gear transmissions.

 

So the setting sets it up quite clearly; you have a lot of cheats towards your constitution, but even if you combine them you wont break out of your toughness bracket. For the record, I like that, as it adds a certain degree of vulnerability for a mortal body fighting among Astartes. 

 

Slapping t5 on these newer guys and saying "DAoT" just walks a little closely to character power creep, no? 

[Noserenda]

I think most Demi Astartes are custom jobs rather than a set process, especially the senior officers/primarchs confidantes so its hard to speculate on what might be involved in their anatomies/stat lines :)

That said while Toughness increases/decreases tend to be fairly dramatic changes for a few editions in main 40k, effectively being set by Species and not altered the relative narrow focus of 30k does give some wriggle room on it.

[lokkorex]

I just assume Abbadon is more a Son of Horus than he himself thinks.

 

As for Haar and the Nemean, maybe they've been enhanced during their trips outside the imperium, or blackshields tampered a bit with gene-seed or somesuch?

[Charlo]

Could just be their armour or to shoe that they are particularly hardy fighters and have endured a lot in their time.

[Reclusiarch Darius]

Autek Mor is old school Terran IIRC. I think his T5 and S5 represents his age and experience, there are few Terrans left after Istvaan in IH. 

 

Nemean Reaver is again Terran Dark Angel, T5 can probably be attributed to his age. 

 

Endryd Haar is due to his experimental status, he's from an older generation of War Hounds that the Emperor trialled. It's represented in his modified Legiones Astartes rules, different kind of savage power compared to later generations. 

 

After the revelations of 'Angels of Caliban', its apparent that at least in the case of the First Legion, the Emperor had more of a direct hand in the creation of Astartes and experimented further, prior to the Legions being formed proper and reunited with their respective Primarchs. Astelan reveals that all of his generation of 'the First' were specially shielded from psykers, and that the process was too expensive and taxing to be done on later generations. The Emperor needed his warriors to be warp-resistant, so he changed them to fit purpose. 

[RandomMarine]

It was heavily suggested that astelans mind had been shielded by the E himself on a individual basis0r

[Raktra]

Could also be that, seeing as HH is still limited by the tight 0-10 stat system, it's the only suitable way to show they're dead 'ard.