ebolazaire said:

Hello. Source of blackmail right there.

Along the topic of space marines having sex. I think alot of you that are for the idea that they are, are forgetting about the hypno therapy. Im very confident that they take away aspects of a former human beings human nature to serve the greater purpose of defending the imperium. With all of the countless worlds and countless threats out there, I see little reason why space marines would be encouraged to engage in such activities since his chapter, his emperor and the glory of battle are all that matters to him.

Being in the military myself and seeing how the superiors behave in todays politically correct society... I see no reason what so ever, that the higher ups of a fanatical military unit in a futuristic "Dark Ages" setting would decline to go to such lengths to enhance their troops and take away feelings or emotions that would detract from their sole purpose... War. But of course most people would see that as wrong and disregard that it was possible even in a grim fictional universe.

Hiyas!

Maybe its not blackmail but a"request"? Maybe the blackmailer is family from before the SM's change? Would they deny their brother's/father's/sister's request ("just this time")?

L

Actually, although there are a lot of indications that space marines would never leave down the praying and shooting for long enough to actually father children, and although there is a strong feeling, that they are indeed completely brainwashed, ubermensch warrior-monks... there's actually nowhere I've seen it black on white that they are incapable. Besides that, they do see the beauty of other things than just squished aliens and heretics - blood angels being artisans and all that. And it would be logical to assume, that the space marines who would later form the Emperors Children could get excited about other things than battle. So all in all... on the basis of "the rules doesn't say it ISN'T this way", I don't see why SMs couldn't have children. Especially good fun within the ultramarines territory, where whole families come to power because of the respect they get for having one of their sons accepted into the chapter. Wonder what would happen when somebody showed up, who could claim his father is a space marine...

Other than that... the problem of perfectionism. If the space marines are the most perfectest warriors of all time, spending all their time praying, fighting or training, I find it hard to challenge my group with anything more complex than big monsters (and that's perhaps dangerous to their characters, but not particularly interesting in terms of character development on its own). There's just so very few handles on each character, that can create tension in the group, and throw the group into a bit of tension... Sure, the way the venerate the immortal emperor could technically be a major division point... in-game. But out of game, the finer points of fictive theology isn't all that interesting. And I'll admit missing something to provide a human perspective in Deathwatch.

rodeoclownjihad said:

No, I'm not forgetting about hypno therapy. Three things- first, they'd end up having essentially the benefits of chem geld if the hypnotherapy worked in that way and another thread covers that. Two, even if it was supposed to, nothing works like you want it to in the grim fictional universe, meaning your hypno therapy, even if it was supposed to do what you say, isn't full proof- just look at all the chapters with mutant/usless implants. Third, provided said marine, or soldier, delivers and doesn't screw up a mission he's good to go (provided his specific chapter master doesn't care about it and deem it heretical). I don't think people see this tangent as common, but rather possible.

@Jos: The handles are harder to find in this game, but they're there if you and your players put in the time and effort. And if you can't grab hold of the players themselves, then interject it into their allies they're working along side of. They're working with the crusade? What of traitors in the war effort (hell, the Emperor Protects claims to feature just such a scenario)? What of volating the social mores of a given chapter (Black Templars are perfect for this- rigid in their ways, throw them into the "freedom" of a watch fortress and toss a psyker in the group and see how they react to it)?

@Bad Birch: That would be a hell of a piece of blackmail, especially should there be any Dark Angels within the segmentum...or one of the PCs

EDIT: Sigh, I got sucked in AGAIN...**** it all...

Charmander said:

Hypnotherapy doesnt really have to do with mutations or implants. That has to do with the genetic level and individual geneseed mutation not the marine. But I'm going to back out of this thread as too many people are finding ways to disregard truths about the games setting to fit things in to their campaign, which to me is fine as long as you dont try and say that its the truth. Ive been playing this game for far too long and now see the original argument that was mad against turning space marines into an RPG. happy gaming to all of you.