These are very much a bit rough, I'd appreciate all comments on how to make them better what they feel doesn't work and what points values are frankly stupid or overpowered. C+C very much wanted.

Imperial Fists

"The Emperor command us. Dorn guides us. Honour shield us. Fear our name, for it is vengeance"
~teachings of Rehetoricus

History

The Imperial Fists were the VII Legion and their Primarch is Rogal Dorn. They have a long history of being loyal protectors of the Imperium and of the Emperor of Mankind himself. Throughout their illustrious career, the Imperial Fists have fought in the Great Crusade, the Horus Heresy and continue to fight to this day. It is only they among the Marine Chapters that may call Holy Terra itself their home world and it is they, under the guidance of Rogal Dorn who fortified the Imperial Palace in preparation for the great siege that befell it during the Heresy. It was Rogal Dorn who found the broken bodies of the Emperor, his father and Sanguinius, his brother upon Horus' battle-barge and in his anger at his own weakness, his inability to protect his father broke his own sword upon his knee. After this Dorn protested the breaking of the Legions as given by the dictate of Guilliman and instead painted his armour black in great grief and spurned his Legion into the Iron Cage incident against the traitor Iron Warriors where many Marines we lost. The Iron Warriors claim this as a victory, but any Imperial Fist proudly will say that upon that day the Imperial Fists were cleansed. Many died, but they were not broken. Many would fall, but they could not be defeated and Rogal Dorn himself strode at the front of his Legion and was a terror to all Iron Warriors who encountered him in his wrath. Ammunition spent Brothers fought in half flooded trenches with combat knives none gave or expected any quarter.

The Ultramarines intervened, even the destruction of Pertuabo traitor Primarch of the Iron Warriors was; in Guilliman's eyes, not worth the loss of Rogal Dorn. Finally, after running the risk of another civil war Rogal Dorn relented. He embraced the Codex Astartes in full and split his Legion, the more zealous under his First Captain Sigismund becoming the Black Templars and the newer cooler headed Brothers becoming the Crimson Fists. Those most loyal to the Primarch stayed Imperial Fists. Dorn took his Chapter into retreat, into solitude. For the next two decades he trained his warriors to embrace every aspect of the Codex and when they emerged their adherence was only bettered by the Ultramarines.

Over time the Imperial Fist geneseed has degraded somewhat and they no longer possess a working Betchers Gland or Sus-an-membrane. The Imperial Fists also seek to conquer pain through force of will. Both an strength and weakness the Imperial Fists will stubbornly fight on in battle where many would have fallen back, their stubborn determination can cause substantial injuries and deaths.

They fight honour duels, competing both within the Chapter and between their successor Chapters; this is following their current Terran origins and Dorn's own example as an exemplar swordsman. Imperial Fists tend to be of a stern disposition and rarely smile especially when in contact with others they do not know. Even other Marines.

Combat Doctrine

The Imperial Fists follow the Codex Astartes as the Ultramarines do, however they have always had a skill and passion for siege warfare especially the defensive arts. While many Chapters can tear down a fortress there are few, if any who can fortify like the Imperial Fists can. Skilled in construction and fortification the Imperial Fists are just as capable of fighting a protracted traditional ground campaign as they are at fortifying and holding a position. It is their stubborn disposition and flexibility that allows them to be so keenly deployed against all manner of threats.

Player Characters

Player characters of the Imperial Fists have no special restrictions on the specialism that they may choose. They are likely to be stubborn and taciturn in nature, as such they cannot be of the gregarious personal demeanour. They have the following bonuses to their stat line +5 Willpower, +5 (players choice) . This is to show that while the Imperial Fists are stubborn to a fault and have a strong will, they are also flexible with training equalling the Ultramarines allowing them to train in numerous other areas.

Chapter Demeanour: Penitent Sons , The Imperial Fists are proud and believe in honour above all things. They are however immensely harsh upon themselves seeking to punish every perceived failing or weakness be this a physical punishment and atonement through pain or a mental torment that is self imposed. Because of this disposition, tactics become dogma brutally drilled into every Marine until they become instinct. The Imperial Fists Battle-Brother will punish himself for his failings, and would encourage his Brother-Marines to do the same thing. However, he will not force their hand. The Imperial Fists Marine knows that it is his willingness to accept such punishment that hardens him and makes him improve. It is only through choice that other Brother-Marines may experience the same.

Names:

1. Solomon
2. Reesetheus
3. Jastilus
4. Eisen
5. Grendel
6. Frastus
7. Dariel
8. Cain
9. Cortez
10. Serghar

Histories:

1. Served with honour as a scout , As a Scout it was remarked how you held the true bearing of the Chapter and of Dorn himself. Your actions on numerous world's received the praise of the Captain of the 10th Company himself. Your name has been mentioned in the upper circles of the Chapter. Even now amongst your Battle-Brothers there are some who look to you in awe.

2. Honour Duel , like all Imperial Fists you feel a special affinity with the sword. You regularly take part in honour duels, including ones against the Imperial Fists successor Chapters. You bear the scars from these duels proudly all over your body and take pride in the deft movements of a blade that won you many a duel and would make Dorn proud.

3. Primarch, Progenitor for your glory! You've stared attackers in the face from atop of the ramparts of the very fortress you've helped to fortify and watched them break upon its walls like wave upon a stout ship. Many days did you endure the siege and many enemies died and it was only upon the last few days that your Brothers flung open the gates to the bastion and you all emerged armour gleaming in the sun to do battle in the swirl of melee. The ground was stained with the blood of your enemies upon that day and a great victory was won.

4. Through pain I am cleansed , Like the Primarch himself you find the ritual use of the pain glove to be a source of cleansing, focus and grounding. Before and after battle you regularly engage in meditative sessions in the pain glove pushing your bodies pain threshold to new limits as your mind forces its focus. The pain glove fuels your immense willpower, it gives you a sense of purpose and a sense of connection with Dorn himself.

5. Banner Bearer , You bore your squads banner or your company banner onto many fields of battle. Selected for your skill and courage you never once let the banner fall nor any disgrace come to it. It was a great honour to carry aloft such a standard and it was one sorely let go upon your tenure in the Deathwatch.

Advances

Command (400)
Command +10 (400)
Command +20 (400)
Tactics (Defence) (300)
Tactics (Defence) +10 (300)
Tactics (Defence) +20 (300)
Interrogation (200)
Interrogation +10 (200)
Interrogation +20 (200)
Duty unto Death (800)
Nerves of Steel (500)
Last Man Standing (500) [Requires Nerves of Steel]
Peer (any) (500)
Good Reputation (any) 500
Wisdom of the Ancients (1,500)

Psychic Powers: See Ultramarines

Solo Ability: Once per combat the Battle-Brother can increase the penetration of a bladed weapon he is using by 4 as his well aimed strikes and parries work an ability into such a position that even his very armour is exposed and does little to protect him from expertly timed and placed blows.

Squad Abilities

Attack

Bolter Drills
Cost: 2
Sustained: Yes
Imperial Fists practice their technique until it becomes a well worn dogma, through their commanding nature and the energy the give in as they shout along a firing lines a Battle-Brother of the Imperial Fists can drive his Brothers to ever greater feats with Astartes bolt weaponry. When in use all Battle-Brothers armed with Bolt weapons and firing on full or semi-auto modes get +1 to their fire rate (this stacks if the individual marine has bolter drill). In addition each Marine has the rapid reload ability for this period. However, the Marines cannot gain access to this if they moved the turn before as they must take up positions and ready themselves again.

Defence

Get Behind Something!
Cost: 2
Sustained: Yes
Masters of siege craft it is often said that given enough time Imperial Fists could render a fortress so well prepared that no one foe, even Astartes could take it. Even in Battle the Imperial Fists know the merit of cover, its strengths and weaknesses. The Imperial Fist can advise his Battle-Brothers how best to use the cover they are behind. Each Battle-Brother in cover may add armour points to their cover equal to the Imperial Fists intelligence bonus.

Chapter Trappings

Honour Duel Sword , Imperial Fists rarely go to battle without a sword upon their person in honour of their martial pride and heritage, Dorn himself was an exceptional swordsman. More as a mark of honour and respect the sword is a perfectly functioning mono-edged sword that can be used in combat.

Purity seals and Parchements, Imperial Fists count their personal honour and the honour of their Chapter very seriously and their reputation is known far and wide. Each seal and each parchment is beautifully made and exceptionally penned with flowing script and verse that would move any loyal servant of the Imperium to greater deeds. When commanding the military arms of the Imperium the Battle-Brother gets +5 to his fellowship tests as those under his command seek to fulfil their pledge to the Emperor and their stern commander.

Primarch's Curse: Failure is Everything!

Rank 1: To fail is a sin against the Primarch! If you fail at anything you set your mind to (convincing a local commander to send troops with you, interrogation of a suspect, getting the killing blow on an opponent you were the first into combat with etc) you must pass a willpower test (+0). If you fail you become withdraw, distant and morose as you beat yourself up mentally for your failing for 1d5 hours. During this time any fellowship tests are at a -10 penalty and you seem distant and unresponsive. If you kill an elite or above enemy, or you take over half your total wounds in damage but do not die, you may test willpower again (+0) in an attempt to shake off your brooding state. Either the honour of the kill has quelled your worries, or the pain of a hard fought combat has cleansed you of your weakness by the spilling of your blood.

Rank 2: This is my test, I shall not fail again. As with Rank 1 except the willpower test is at (-10), in addition either through physical exertion such as hitting a wall repeatedly at full force, or mentally through replaying the situation over and over in your mind you incur 1 level of fatigue upon yourself. Even if you kill an elite enemy or suffer sufficient wounds this stage lasts for 1d5 hours regardless.

Rank 3: Here I stand and here I shall die if I must. As with rank 2 except that rather than incurring fatigue your blood boils with your failure and you become aggressive and reckless. For 1d5 hours you must charge any enemy you see, when faced with a group of enemies you must attempt to locate the strongest or the leader and engage them in combat first if possible. If you would need to fall back from combat you need to take a (-20) willpower test and if passed this fall back from combat doubles your (-10) fellowship modifier to (-20) and resets that amount of hours you remain in your morose aggressive state.

Thank you very much for the time you put into creating this. It was a good read, and well done.

ConstantineRoth said:

I am not sure what this section is supposed to be?

I see the chapter stat bonuses (great- btw), but what do you think the 2nd and 3rd teir for the Solo mode ability would be? Perhaps rank 3 would be +10 WS with bladed weapons, or an increased initiative to reflex his focus and speed. Rank 5 would be some improvements on the Rank 3.

The implants would be the same as the Black Templars.

40k Junkie said:

Its what it says it is... If you've read the rules you should know exactly what it is. If you haven't, well... its the space marine-specific system that replaces DH/RT insanity rules for DW characters.

Ah yes I forgot to specifically mention the Betchers Gland and Sus-an-membrane, they would indeed be the same as the Black Templars in that they don't function. As far as the rank 3 and higher abilities go. I'll have a look at levelling those up, increasing armour points or adding another ability for the bolter line (or just making bolters better) we shall see I'll update this as soon as I've pondered.

Or even, excuse the double post. Improve their solo ability and not their squad one silly me it is 6am here so please do forgive my foolish moment there.

Polaria said:

Thanks, but

A simple clarification without attitude would have been great. It's a recently released 400+ page book. Consider perhaps not everyone has it memorized cover to cover as you have.

It's no big deal, I got lost on the Primarch's curse thing before first time. It's basically as Marines go "insane" they don't literally go mad. They're Marines their minds are conditioned, rather they begin to manifest overtly the major weaknesses of their geneseed relating to their Primarch. In Dorn's case his stubborn pride and ability to be incredibly harsh upon himself to his own detriment.

Glad someone put in the time to do this. I don't have any Imperial Fists players but I have an IF army for WH40K of my own. I will have to cut and paste this into Word so I can read it at my leisure.

You're the man for posting this. I was about to slave over my book and try to develop this myself.

According to a freidn of mine Trade (Scrimshawer) would be a representative skill for them to have. As their "useless" skill, like Space Wolves Wrangling.

Hey I'm glad to have put the time in, it's something I enjoy doing and if people get even some use or inspiration out of it all the better. I'll be doing some more Chapters as they catch my attention so expect to see more from me soon.

Solo Ability Update:

Rank 3: At Rank 3 the Battle-Brother also gets +5 to WS to hit and +10 to parry attempts.

Rank 5: At Rank 5 the bonus to WS increased to +10 and the bonus to parry attempts to +20

Scrimshawer as a trade would make a lot of sense because of their carving of fallen Brothers bones in a test of focus, concentration and mental fortitude. I'll add that onto the list as well as potential advances as it is very fluffy

Nice work, Brother Constantine!

So, any interest to make the same format entry for the following chapters:

Blood Ravens

Iron Hands

Raven Guard

Salamanders

White Scars?

These are the Chapters I would like to see detailed in the Deathwatch RPG, including the Imperial Fists...

Hey Stargazer, thank you for the compliment I've already got something for the Salamanders done which just needs a bit of tweaking and double checking and then that can go up. Although there's already one of the Salamanders that looks good, I just made this one because the GM for my campaign made a few directional changes etc. I am planning at some point to write Iron Hands, Raven Guard and White Scars in this format if I learn more about Blood Ravens I shall be doing the same there. I also need to update the Imperial Fists one more time as I realised I forgot to give them a relic so I need to ponder what this would be. Thank you once again for the compliment on the work I put it

borithan said:

Useless? Bah! The Space Wolf in my game will probably try to ride every possible animal. *Cough* Thunderwolves. I have already informed him there will be NO thunderwolves in the Jericho Reach.

Thanks again for diving into this. I gave it a read over and made some slight wording changes so the history section flows better. Over all it is really solid. Here are some questions and comments for a second opinion.

Psychic Powers: See Ultramarines: (Though ok since they are the same in the vanilla marine codex, but maybe there is still something there. I am looking into it.)

Solo Ability: (Looking good, but how long will it last. The range is Rounds = 1/2 Rank, or Rounds= Ranks) I saw your additions for rank 3, and 5. I am not sure that really does it for me. I don't know what the changes would be. The whole chapter is about Ranged weapons and seige defense, and they are meant maybe more so to function in groups. There solo mode could be centered around the honor duel, but I am not sure how far to go with it.

Honour Duel Sword: Sounds great-> Would an honor duel be done with a power weapon, or is it normally performed without a marines power armor?

Purity seals and Parchements: ...Battle-Brother gets +5 to his fellowship tests... (for) his command (This seems over powered compared to the other chapters.)

The Psychic powers are really personal choice, I couldn't think of anything god and it would be changing powers in my case for the sake of changing powers. But if you can that would be ace.

As far as the Solo abilities go.

For duration in rounds, I'd probably go Rank divided by 2 rounding up much like the Blood Angels ability that is also heavily combat based. But that's a personal choice.

The Imperial Fists are indeed defence siege masters, but they also specialised in urban warfare and thanks to their diverse recruiting worlds and terran heraldry as well as Dorn's influence as a sword fighter (Dorn is well documented as using a [my assumption power] sword at the Siege of Terra of which he snapped over his own knee and of often using a Bolter and a Chainsword as his weapons of choice). It's more that all Imperial Fists have a proficiency with a sword and it works quite well as a solo ability, but again that's a personal thing. Lysander is a great example who when raising the Iron Warriors world he was tortured on he went to battle with a sword until he regained The Fist of Dorn and his own terminator armour.

Honour duels are done with normal swords, the aim is for them to be non-lethal. From what I understand the Brother-Marines are mag locked to the floor and the winner is the first to inflict a wound that draws blood on the opposing brothers face. Many senior Marines in the Chapter bear a criss cross of scars on their faces as well as battlefield injuries.

Reading in full I agree about the Purity seals, either count it as +3 (as all other abilities do +3) or you could use it as the Ultramarines trapping "Heraldry Scroll" and have it add +10 kill markings to any assault mission where the scroll was displayed at least once.

acording to the wh40k novel spacemarine (based on the imp fists) the relic is the finely carved hands of Rogal Dorn himself with allof the personal heraldry of the previous chapter masters

It seems keen for everyone to give tactics to these chapters, and cheaper then that of the UM which in my mind is wrong. 600xp seems more appropriate to me, making the UM the best tacticians.

Indeed they are the best overall tacticians, this has been edited on my copy at least that the Imperial Fists only can get Tactics (defensive) for that price making them far more specialised but less versatile in general. But Imperial Fist's are among the most supreme tacticians in the Imperium so even having them equal the Ultramarines as potential squad leaders is not so unrealistic and is, as some may see it; less restrictive. The standard Ultramarine as the leader could get a bit droll after a while, some people may see leaders such as the Imperial Fists as possessing a distinct character and personality that makes the role more interesting.

Rogal Dorn is one of the Primarch's who is touted as having the best tactical mind in the Imperium at the time of the Great Crusade as far as battlefield tactics and command. The Lion was a supreme strategist and Guilliman was brilliant but was the most specifically gifted logistically, he always left worlds that he enlightened in a thriving state. Horus held a brilliant balance between most of the aspects, but as a tactician Dorn really seemed to stand out. He is also arguably the Primarch who had the most success before the coming of the Emperor and the only Primarch who went to meet the Emperor, not the other way around. The current Imperial Fists Chapter Master Vladamir Pugh is actually more at home "leading behind a holo screen coordinating massive planetary assaults" than leading from the front. Many esteemed Deathwatch Captains and Commanders have come from the Fists including a Captain who was permanently serving with them due to his exemplary lead. So to say that the Ultramarines are the best, or should be the best commanders or tacticians is perhaps a bit of a reductionist argument. In my opinion that is, as any of the rules are not hard and fast they can be changed as individuals like.

cheers, i plan to use the Imperial fists in my game so thanks for the write up. however, the IF always struck me as being all about heavy weapons, as i imagine siege warfare would be all about bombarding the crud out of the enemy position with heavy ordinance, its seems odd that their solo power is melee focused. dont get me wrong, you have done great work, the solo power just seems a little out of place to me.

I would also request a change of the bonuses to +5 T and +5 WP for better coherency with my Crimson Fists. That way the Crimsons (+5 WP, +5 on one other) are right in the middle between the IF and the Ultras (+5 to any two). Besides the IF are one of defensive chapters. Their homeworld isn't Terra for nothing.

Alex

how about this instead for the solo power?

Stalwart defense

an imperial fist may increase the armor rating to all location by [rank] for 1 round an number of times equal to [half rank] per session

ak-73 said:

Yes, but the Imperial Fist's embraced the Codex Astartes second only to the Ultramarines and are the closest adherents to it's practices beside the Ultramarines. My Imperial Fist rules are not set in stone, I'm not a developer I am; in the nicest possible way "just a bloke". How your Crimson Fists work are entirely up to you, they could have what you deem them as having and it would be fine they are Sons of Dorn after all. They are a successor Chapter of the Fists not everything has to be different. Nominally the Fists are of Terra, but they recruit from many words being a fleet based Chapter. They excel in defensive siege warfare, but are also gifted at assault sieges, urban warfare and duelling. To label them as just defensive is a little reductionist. I know we have to be in a game where stat modifiers come into play but even so, their adherence to the Codex and their wide skill base makes me feel that a +5 WP and +5 any other is realistic as would your Crimson Fists having the same stat line.

As far as the solo ability, I personally am keeping mine how it is. If you want to use the Imperial Fists as whole or in part as I stat them here feel free to keep or change what you like. I was very concious I wanted a defining solo power that gave them a "cool" ability that draws people in and that doesn't step on other classes toes (for example the techmarine can make defences better it's not fair if an Imperial Fist can do this nearly as well as a solo ability). In my opinion.

ConstantineRoth said:

All fair enough but you've set them up a bit as defense specialists yourself. As the IF are second only to the Ultramarines, don't you think then they deserve more in terms of flexibility than one +5 to one characteristic? And by that I wonder if they shouldn't be given access to more tactics then?

"Many of the Deathwatch’s most famous Captains have been from the Imperial Fists. The tactical skills of the Imperial Fists have made them equally effective at leading their more hot headed brothers in the politically tense environment of the Ordo Xenos, and in the ever shifting situations of Kill Team missions where less level headed leaders struggle. At least one Imperial Fist Captain has been seconded on a permanent basis so highly did the Deathwatch value his leadership."

Alex

They get one +5 to WP and one +5 to anything they want. That second +5 is the very essence of flexibility. But not as flexible as the Ultramarines. As they are, second to them in that respect. Their stat line was to walk a tight-rope, and more tactics could be added and subtracted as need be. Don't forget they have the entire access to Space Marine and Deathwatch abilities available in the book, so they won't be short of abilities to choose from. I don't want to risk making them a "God" marine able to choose to do anything. That's how I see it, that's how I use them. My answers will be pretty much standard from here on in, if something isn't right in your opinion; change it. I don't mind, but I may not agree with it in my own use of the Chapter.