Greetings everyone.

My friends and i are a big fan of the dawn of war series and i would like to run some Blood Raven marines. So i was wondering if i could get some ideas from people on solo mode abilites etc you would see from a Blood Raven.

Just a few things off the top of my head:

+5 Int, +5 WP to represent scholarly nature?

Possible chapter histories including Tartarus (DoW), Kronus (DoW:DC), Kaurava (DoW:SS), or Subsector Aurelia (DoW2)?

Solo-Mode includes an ability to auto-pass Forbidden Lore check?

Maybe some bonus for Blood Raven librarians?

Etc.

Hope this gives you some ideas. I'm sure someone will come out with good fan-made rules. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if Blood Ravens are one of the chapters detailed in Rites of Battle!

Kaurava (DoW:SS)

The Kaurava campaign never happened.

ddunkelmeister said:

I believe it's already been stated that they won't be, since THQ own the rights to that Chapter.

I wonder if Fantasy Flight games owns the rights to the Storm Wardens.

Well, it's more a case of that Games Workshop generally agrees to let the developers for their various licences keep creative control, even if Games Workshop technically own the rights. Either way, like I said, I'm pretty sure I've seen it mentioned that THQ are the only ones allowed to do stuff with the Blood Ravens, and I imagine it'd apply the same to FFG's Storm Wardens.

Well, is it ever established what years the events of the DoW games take place? Give DW is in 815.m41ish, it probably takes place before those games.

As far as Forbidden Lore goes, I'm no sure about that, the majority of the Sergeants from DoW II seemed pretty clueless about such things. Scholastic Lores would be a good way to go.

I'm toying with giving it a shot, though the hardest part would be figuring out a Chapter solo ability, Attack Squad pattern, Defensive Squad Pattern, and 4-5 Psyker powers.

Nothing to stop you using the Blood Ravens. Did they do a Dawn of War novel at some point? Or perhaps a game guide might have some extra info about them in it? Not the most interesting chapter IMO but if you've got a lot of DoW players they might like seeing names they recognise.

MILLANDSON said:

Yeah, everyone get's there own Chapter which is why FFG won't print the rules for them. Not because they can't use them, but because they couldn't make up anything needed to fill in the gaps.

That's not to say GW can't use it though as they brought out a Blood Ravens transfer kit (well Forge World did). Maybe the Storm Wardens will get some love some day.

Remember with the Blood Ravens that the Campaigns in the games are going to be in the Future compared to standard timeline for DW.

After all the Blood Ravens were nearly destroyed by the Necrons on Kronus which is why they have so few fighting in the second game

GalagaGalaxian said:

Arn't they a Blood Angel successor chapter? Couldn't you use them as a base, it would give you a great starting point.

Firebreak said:

Vague hints point rather to Thousand Sons

They are of an unknown founding, unknown founding chapter, and of course unknown primarch.

The Blood Ravens also were not almost destroyed on Kronus, the 5th company did the majority of the fighting.

I think it would be fun to play a Blood Raven DW marine, however if house rules are made up I think your marine shouldn't be able to be a librarian. For some reason they just love them too much and I couldnt see them sending one into the Deathwatch.

copy paste from warhammer40k.wikia.com

The Blood Ravens' dark secret may be that they have descended not from one of the Loyalist First Founding Chapters but from the Thousand Sons Chaos Marine Legion, as before the Horus Heresy the Thousand Sons may have copied and modified their gene-seed and left the new gene-seed on Mars for the Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priests to use to create new Space Marine Chapters. This would mean that the Blood Ravens Chapter is not a Successor Chapter but is technically one of the First Founding Chapters, though with a dark past.

In the Black Library book Dawn of War: Ascension, it is revealed that the ancestors of the Blood Ravens built a recruiting world on top of an ancient Necron outpost during the Horus Heresy, with the help of the Eldar. The two races worked in unison, using Eldar magic and psychic wards to lock the Necron force lying beneath the sands in psychic stasis. The Heresy-era Space Marines were then tasked with protecting this outpost by the Eldar, to seal in the Necron threat, but they mysteriously abandoned it. It was left unrecorded in Imperial logs until the Blood Ravens rediscovered it. The Eldar mistook the Blood Ravens for being one and the same as the Heresy-era Space Marines, as they too wore similar red Power Armour.

The physic lock the Marines placed on the Necrons shows that the Marines of that time could not have been Blood Angels, and the Thousand Sons already share a bond with the Blood Ravens because both groups of Space Marines were defined by the possession of unusually strong psychic powers.

In the novel Battle for the Abyss, a Thousand Sons Chaos Marine shouts "Knowledge is Power!" as a battle cry, suggesting a connection to the Blood Ravens.

In the novel A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill a vision is seen by the Thousand Sons Librarian Ahriman describing a future image of blood and a raven, and a remembrancer psyker attached to the Thousand Sons has a vision of "...The Ravens, I see them too! The lost sons and a Raven of Blood. They cry out for salvation and knowledge, but it is denied!" (p.430) This may imply that the Blood Ravens are descended from the Thousand Sons' gene-seed. If the Thousand Sons are not the origin of the Blood Ravens' geneseed, then Games Workshop is clearly throwing out a multitude of red herrings.

The games story line does imply that they are atleast partially of Thousand son, or in the least chaos legion lineage.

I also was of the thought they were a thousand sons chapter, mostly because they had a high amount of psychics from their geneseed, also I am sure as above it is hinted at.

MILLANDSON said:

For what it's worth, there is a quote from Captain Davian Thule of the Blood Raven on page 276. That's a character from DoW2 and possibility DoW1 (I haven't played the first one).

They may not be as out of reach as we think.

ddunkelmeister said:

The Blood ravens have something else too. They all possess eidetic memory (according to the books), except for their time before they became space marines.

How does this look for a start?

Blood Ravens Chapter

Stat Bonuses: +5 INT, +5 PER
Starting Bonus Skills/Talents: Total Recall

Chapter Demeanour: Knowledge is Power

Chapter Advancements:

Lore: Common (Any) * 400 xp
Lore: Scholastic (Any) * 500 xp
Lore: Forbidden (Any) 800 xp
Lore: Forbidden (Adeptus Astartes) 400 xp
Logic 400 xp
Logic +10 400 xp Logic
Logic +20 400 xp Logic +10
Foresight 400 xp Int 30
Meditation 800 xp
Infused Knowledge 1200 xp Int 40

* May be purchased multple times

Chapter Abilities:

Solo Ability:

Chapter Attack Pattern:

Chapter Defensive Pattern:

Chapter Trappings:

The Fated 5th company Redemption Badge: Add +3 WP to any Willpower Test to resist fear effects and Cohesion damage
Philospher's Scriptures: Add +3 to all Logic and Foresight tests
Gemmed Raven Icon: +3 to Awareness Tests
Token of the Unknown Primarch: Counts as a Charm

Chapter Relic: Hate of Xenos

Battle Brother Trythios was the first Blood Raven to serve in the deathwatch, his trusted sidearm was a Plasma Pistol he named "Hate of Xenos". In the centuries since it has been passed down to all Blood Ravens serving in the ranks of Deathwatch.

Hate of Xenos Pistol, 30m, S/2/-, 1d10+12, Pen 8, Clip 12, 3 Full Reload, Volatile, Felling (1), Accurate. Hate of Xenos gains the Toxic Quality against Xenos opponents. Requisition 60, Hero.

Psyker Powers:

Makes sense.

A great start, I like the names of the chapter trappings.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far.

Your off to a great start here

I'm really currious as to what you come up with for there "Primarch" Curse.

Sadly I have no idea what to do for squad/solo abilities and psyker powers. I've never paid much attention to psyker stuff in the 40k RPGs. Insanity Curse is another thing I've nary a clue about.

My GF and I have been working on this recently too, as she wants to play a Blood Raven in the game I'm running. I haven't approved anything yet, but these are her current suggestions:

Chapter Power

Similar to a Navigator, Blood Ravens can see into the Warp via a psychic mutation known as a 'Third Eye'. This ability is latent and affords them no special ability to navigate or guide a warp jump. However, with his sight turned towards the Astronomicon Beacon, he receives occasional inspiration and guidance from the Emperor and His glorious Astral Choir.

When spending a Fate Point to re-roll a percentile roll, a Blood Raven gains a +10 bonus on his new roll. When spending a Fate point to recover Wounds or gain an initiative bonus, a Blood Raven gains +1 on the roll.

Primarch's Curse

Level I, Need to Know The Blood Raven develops a desire to collect and possess knowledge. He must pass a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test in order to forgo the chance to learn something new. If this knowledge is obviously corrupting or dangerous, or his hesitation would put his fellow Astartes in danger, the Willpower Test becomes Routine (+20).

Level II, Knowledge Is Power This is identical to the Level I Curse except that corrupting or dangerous knowledge never makes the Willpower never becomes Routine.

Level III, Dark Secret The Blood Raven's quest for knowledge has led him to a secret so terrible it would shake the very foundations of the Imperium. The nature of the blasphemous secret is left to the GM to decide. Outrageous and horrible fates await the character should anyone discover what he knows.

I don't know if this helps but this is the Lexicanum entry for the Blood Ravens and in regards to this topic the problem the geneseed has for them.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Blood_Ravens

The Blood Raven geneseed seems to be stable, though the high proportion of psykers in the Blood Ravens ranks has resulted in more regular testing of the purity of their geneseed tithe. Thus far, there has been little evidence of mutation. There is, however, a slight mutation in the Catalepsean Node, which grants Blood Ravens perfect recall, but renders them unable to experience R.E.M. Sleep.