I thought the whole part of nestor was that he WAS in the IC, the whole scene with him mentioning about the geneseed how could he NOT be a member.

im pretty sure i read background somewhere describing how various chapters submit deathwatch hopefuls. in any case, this is how i see it:

Dark Angels: you are talented, but cannot be trusted in the inner circle. we cant promote you, but we also cant NOT promote you. to the deathwatch with you!

Blood Angels: you are too normal and sane to get into the honour guard/sanguinary guard. go join deathwatch and be weird there.

Ultramarines: you are pretty good at killing nids and stuff. go do some of it with other chapters and show them how AWESOMEZZZ we are, innit bruv.

Space Wolves: you know those boring guys over in the corner, reading books? - theyd be perfect for the deathwatch, what with all that codex malarky.

Black Templars: howd you like to go kill some xenos? =D

I will have to re-read that part about Nestor, i remember boreas showing confusion as to how he had not made it in to the IC, which may still prove my theory that all Apothecaries are not strictly in the IC, if that makes sense, since boreas did not think that he was, so it is possible for apothecaries to not be IC, i think the only people that are always IC are librarians, even chaplains have to prove it. Thank you though for showing that to me, it would be very DA like for Nestor to be in the IC and Boreas not even know about it. Again, i will have to read it.

skatingtortoise said:

DW is an elite force of Space Marine and is viewed as an Honor to be seconded to the DW . Only proven veteran are seconded to the DW and most of them are to be Force Commander in training or chaplains etc..

Your standard brute marines are kept away from those interaction with other chapters where they would probably fail where those seconded to the deathwatch should be more clever, open minded, etc then their average members. To fail as a DW is to fail your chapter, to send a poor candidate (even worst a failure/traitor) should be an affront to most chapters and WILL have dire consequence for the sector.

Remember that most Wolf Lord are tough warriors but also master tacticians, diplomats, etc.

DA are always on the look for <censored>. The way a battle brother will handle the possible encounter with <censored> is in it self a big game plot but to ALL Space Marines HONOR is key. LOYAL to the emperor, to your chapter, to the DeathWatch, etc... to fail in defending the Emperium against it's enemie is to fail the Emperor him self Brother skatingtortoise remember this in your afternoon contemplation.

yeees.... where did i say they werent sending their talented veterans? this is running off of a little sentence in a white dwarf stating that deathwatch was formed from codex chapters, as only these would be able to bond sufficiently for purpose. it later noted that less stringent chapters would send members who were more inclined to that way of thinking, ie. misfits in their own chapter. can you imagine an ultramarine trying to fit in amongst space wolves?

so then: a clarification.

these are what i perceive to be the attitudes taken towards the deathwatch. i am well aware the RaW may contradict me.

Ultramarines: being a codex chapter, are predictably eager to send their marines off to the deathwatch to show the others how its done, awesome ultramarine style, with extra gold plating. it is a great honour, and any who are asked to volunteer dutifully do so.

Dark Angels: there comes a point in a talented dark angel's career when he may ascend to the inner circle. what if a marine, though talented and valorous could not be fully trusted with the knowledge imparted to its members? you could leave him where he is. eventually though, he would be overtaken by younger, better marines, with the knowledge that he is not *quite* good enough. a great dishonour. so the upper management, knowing this, ask him if he wants to join the deathwatch for a while. his choice is voluntary service somewhere else, or sitting underneath the glass ceiling. there may well be members of the inner circle within the deathwatch, but i believe this individuals are generally too entrenched in the DA philosophy

Blood Angels: as above, but replace inner circle with sanguinary guard/honour guard. as places are limited, not everyone can get in, and some might not have the right temperament. its the age old problem of knowing you need to promote someone as they have earned it, but knowing full well for various reasons this is impossible. the deathwatch is a nice out here, as no marine can refuse, as it is a 'great honour'. he knows he is being swept under the rug, but he cant say anything, so 'volunteers' for DW service.

space wolves: due to their unique temperament and chapter structure, only the most rigid adherents to the codex mentality will be chosen ,and noone else will really miss them, as they wont fit in that well. ofcourse they wont send anyone who isnt suitable in the first place, but i imagine the best of the best of the chapter get all the cushy positions. deathwatch places go to the also-rans.

black templars: killing aliens is great yeah, and its always nice to get picked out from the crowd by your commander - but there are crusades to be won!

i suppose my point is that the top 1o% of the chapter will become veterans. of these, the top 1% will get command jobs and particularly cushy assignments, like honour guard. the percentile below them? theyre the ones who get deathwatch duty. always second best, and they know it.

Seems to me that this could be a great plothook for both the character and GM. Assuming the character is seconded to the DW prior to becoming a member of the IC, one could have a lot of fun if during the course of several adventures he came across rumors/evidence of "rogue Dark Angels" working in conjunction with the enemy. Trying to follow this up, one could see a lot of great roleplaying opportunities as the character slowly begins to understand the true secrets/inner workings of his chapter. At the end of the arc, one could see him having achieved IC status and now working as an "agent" within the DW - good times!

AJC

MILLANDSON said:

Thank you for clarifiying this for others, because as a national of the UK - can say that the Storm Wardens are (sadly) primarily based on a mix of Celtic and Welsh.

Doesn't mean I have to like them - the chapter is rather lame and if I was more sensitive I could accuse it of borderline stereotypical profiling.

Are Fallen DA accepted as Blackshields?

About the whole rookie dark angels sending info to their chapter, as far as i remember it is mentioned that only IC DA have any knowledge about <censored> so even if he found one he wouldn't know who <censored> was.

guest469 said:

I claim this plot hook on behalf of the imperium. thank you.