Okay, so I love (warhammer 40K) Space Marines. Always have. Games Workshop got me young and its stuck more than religion.

Its a roleplaying goal of mine to play a Marine.

So Forge me up a Space Marine Game.

I want the maximum amount of pretense I can get. I want to play a proper, badass spiky bitted Space Marine, and I want to feel Smart for doing it.

I want cutting a mutant in half with two handed Chainsaw Sword to be a powerful yet subtle metaphore for the touching relationship between a woman dying of cancer and her daughter who will likly live forever. I want emptying a storm bolter in to a crowd of charging aliens to help my friends explore issues of their sexuality in a changing world.

I want a hyper focused game with a system that can only be used for one set of pregens, on a sunny evening in march with at least three players called Marmaduke.

Any ideas?

All I've got is ripping off Pendragon. With, like, a Pride stat you can tap for extra power at risk of falling to chaos.

Space Marines are essentially supers: genetically-engineered supersoldiers in powered armour. So you could do them using a supers game, HERO or M&M for example. If you want the possible risk of turning to Chaos, M&M would be more suitable because of the Taint rules in the Mastermind's Manual. It's easier to handle too I think. But I suspect that going down either of those routes is not quite what you're after, if only because you won't be wanting to spend the amount of money needed.

Hearts & Souls with "Drive": "Be Badass for the Empire"
(sometimes called "Guardianship" because well they guard the empire and its people from evil monsters/etc.)

Easy.

Modified DitV.

Space Marines landing on a planet instead of Dogs going to a town.

Done.

EDIT: My typing suxxorz

Makes no sense. What about the talk-fists-guns mechanism of DitV? Why would a Space Marine bother with the first two?

You just escalate much faster.

Instead of talk/fists/guns it would be guns/tanks/Exterminatus.

Quote from: fonkaygarryInstead of talk/fists/guns it would be guns/tanks/Exterminatus.

I can live with that

Quote from: SosthenesMakes no sense. What about the talk-fists-guns mechanism of DitV? Why would a Space Marine bother with the first two?

Perhaps Inquisitors in the Maelstrom?

Talk: Demand confession/surrender
Fists: Powerglove
Guns: The Holy Bolter

!i!

Quote from: SosthenesMakes no sense. What about the talk-fists-guns mechanism of DitV? Why would a Space Marine bother with the first two?

Talking / Physical / Fighting / Gunfighting.

He'd use the first two in an attempt to cow the local populace.

The Black Templar Chaplain screams imprecations at the local populace, exhorting those among them that are not beyond redemption to lay down their arms so that they can be purified, rather than destroyed, byt the death his comrades will give, and go to the Emperor's side in death.

That's some mighty fine talking.

The hardest thing to do with space marines is the implant that lets them eat an animal and gain part of it's memories. That was a very hard idea to replicate in most games.

Most of the rest isn't hard, you can do a SM in gurps, but be prepared to pay beaucoup points for it, and that's without the armor and bolter.

BTW, would you be satisfied with one done in gurps?

Quote from: Dominus NoxThe hardest thing to do with space marines is the implant that lets them eat an animal and gain part of it's memories. That was a very hard idea to replicate in most games.

Most of the rest isn't hard, you can do a SM in gurps, but be prepared to pay beaucoup points for it, and that's without the armor and bolter.

BTW, would you be satisfied with one done in gurps?

I'd like to see one, myself.

As much as anything, I'm looking strip find the quintesential Marine story and strip it down to its core and find a playable game concept that works for that.

Okay, so The Heresy is probably the most significant section of the mythos. How about if its the 31st millenium and the brotherhood of Marines is fracturing. Factions are forming - some say they support the Emperor, others say that those other guys don't really support the Emperor but they do, more say that the Emperor must be replaced, others just want to live for themselves for once. A group of Marines (the PCs) from a variety of chapters meet to decide what to do and who to support.

Its about examining questions of loyalty - do your players believe in loyalty to ideas, or to individuals, or think the whole thing is a crock.

(Civil Wars make a great scenario - everythings changing, its all about personal loyalty and almost by definition theres no real chain of command to order players about.)

(And at least some of the Marines are secretly Chaos Worshipers, obviously. Possibly they all are although none of them has told the others)

Quote from: SosthenesMakes no sense. What about the talk-fists-guns mechanism of DitV? Why would a Space Marine bother with the first two?

Talk - Locate heathen.
Fists - Interrogate heathen.
Guns - Kill heathen.

Quote from: Erik BoielleOkay, so I love (warhammer 40K) Space Marines. Always have. Games Workshop got me young and its stuck more than religion.

Its a roleplaying goal of mine to play a Marine.

So Forge me up a Space Marine Game.

-SNIP-

I want a hyper focused game with a system that can only be used for one set of pregens, on a sunny evening in march with at least three players called Marmaduke.

Any ideas?

So, I made my first post, then went back and reread Erik's opener and thought, "D'oh! You've taken completely the wrong tack with your recommendations of those points-driven supers systems." I've been trying to take a different tack then.

First off: you have to decide what kind of space marines you're going to play:

• a particular chapter
• the Deathwatch- ie. marines from different chapters operating as special forces (this is probably the most interesting for a roleplaying group)
• the Grey Knights.

This choice will effect the key attributes you'll need.

The first attribute that you need is Orthodoxy or somesuch. That is: how closely does each marine's chapter adhere to the Codex Astartes? This can be set on any scale you wish, but essentially the value will range from 0 to 1. The Ultramarines are the classic example of Orthodoxy 1, the Space Wolves of Orthodoxy 0. I would suggest that the Dark Angels and the Blood Angels are somewhere in between. I can't decide where those two would fit on the scale.

What flows from the Orthodoxy rating? Well, the less orthodox a chapter is, the more likely it is to be subject to oversight or interference by the Inquisition- ie. to suffer a complication in play. Less orthodox chapters will also have less rigid doctrines, which could give them more flexible skill-sets. However, less Orthodox chapters are also more likely to have unstable or tainted geneseed. The Blood Angels' Black Rage is the classic example of this.

How would Orthodoxy work as a mechanic? Well, I can imagine some kind of competitive test. The rules would vary according the base system chosen, but lower Orthodoxy should be favoured in solving novel problems, while higher Orthodoxy should enjoy advantages when dealing with the Imperial authorities, eg. the Inquisition. Also, if you were to choose to go the Deathwatch route then the potential for conflicts of Orthodoxy between PC's, plus the fact that the Deathwatch are the Ordo Xenos of the Inquisition, should provide plenty of opportunities for highly charged roleplaying.

This is just the germ of an idea. I hope it helps.