As much as it pains me to ask this, I was wondering if the more experienced and learned RPers could give me tips so that I may more effectively roleplay a Space Marine of the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter. It pains me to ask this because I am a huge Warhammer 40,000 buff and because the Blood Angels are my favorite Space Marine Chapter and yet I know how to roleplay characters from the other main Space Marine Chapters fairly well (except for Storm Wardens as they were basically pulled out of a magic hat like some rabbit when Deathwatch was released). I'm also not trying to create a stereotypical depiction of a Blood Angel, but one that has depth and complexity to it.

Here are the problems I'm having with creating my Blood Angel Assault Marine.

The first thing is that I'm having trouble even deciding which Demeanor would be best for my Blood Angel. None of them really seem to depict their description under "The Sons of Sanguinius" on page 42. None of the Demeanors seem to fit a Space Marine with a deep mystical streak permeated with a sense of mortality and the fallen greatness of Man who yet still holds a strong belief that things can be made better. Any suggestions as to which Demeanor would be most appropriate given what I just paraphrased from the book and how to roleplay that would be appreciated.

The other problem I'm having is balancing the angelic qualities of the Blood Angels with the curse. I've read through the accounts of angelic encounters in my own Bible and through Christian apocrypha and other depictions for inspiration on how to give my character that angelic feel but I frankly don't know how to do that without it dominating my character. That also applies with the curse. Blood Angels are known for their ferocity in combat and the curse plays a key role in their personality makeup. I'm afraid I'll end up either going overboard with it and making him a virtual World Eater or else downplay it to the point where my character acts like a kitten.

I haven't been this unsure of how to roleplay a character since I first started years ago. Any helpful insights, comments, suggestions, etc would be great.

How bout this: Try looking at the Blood Angels from their artisan side, kind of a Warrior-Artist like the Samurai of Acient Terra.

Hope that helped ya!

-J

P.S. Don't delve to deeply into the "Angel" side of them, their is a dicotomy there that they are still human.

I play my Blood Angel AM as a very calm and self-controlled person in non-combat situations. He seldomly acts aggressively on his own and usually stays in the background, giving his opinion in a calm and friendly manner. When confronted with hateful and aggressive behaviour by his teammates (not towards himself, but towards NPCs) he usually warns them about the dangers of uncontrolled fury (of course without speaking about the curse, which he keeps secret).

In combat situations, things get turned around. I often describe him screaming or shouting seemingly senseless phrases when in Battle Rage (relating them to Sanguinius' battle against Horus, which to other marines sound odd when for instance fighting xenos). I point how how he ravages among his foes. Directly after combat, I roleplay him disoriented for a few minutes.

That's the way my character acts, however, not all Blood Angels are the same, they are individuals and as such they can behave very differently. Basically your BA marine can be as aggressive or calm as you want him to be, and he can be as "angelic" as you like, ranging from near divine to bloodthirsty. You decide

No one has ever accused me of being the greatest roleplayer on earth but I thought I'd toss in my two cents.

Don't let the Demeanor's listed in the book hold you down. If your character doesn't fit into the examples listed, simply use them as inspiration to come up with your own, and submit them to your GM for 'approval.' If your GM is tough to convince, come up with some examples of what you see as things that would fulfill the requirements to trigger the demeanor and compare it against the xisting list.

After that, both Arkhan and Jkilla touch on the bit that I tend to see (perhaps sterotypically) with Blood Angels, and that's the dichotomy between the combat rage and the calm controlled non-combat interaction. Giving into blood lust when in battle against those that oppose the Emperor, but calm and collected when dealing with loyalists.

Come up with your core background, throw in the complications you like (afraid of death, haunted by images of the primarch moreso than most, has a behavior he wants to exhibit but has a hard time doing so) and then figure out how you'd show those in the game (particularly in non-combat encounters) and how your character might adapt and grow.

Vincian, Blood Angel Librarian:

Vincian has fully absorbed the BA drive towards perfection. To him Space Marines are more than just the sons of the Emperor. To the mortal men, they are the embodiment of the Emperor's will itself. It is a Space Marine's duty to live up to the highest of ideals, being examples of righteousness, so that lesser men are inspired to serve the Emperor faithfully. He always maintains his meticulous angelic looks carefully, styling himself in the image of Sanguinius. He himself is not a man of deep faith but he seeks to further the faith of mortal men whenever he can. So as Personal Demeanour I have Calculating. Vincian is supposed to be a keen observer and shrewd tactician actually (stats don't quite reflect that - yet). He will wait for the right moment to strike where the enemy is most vulnerable using shock and awe tactics. Problem is that once he strikes the blood of Sanguinius takes over. That's when he stops being Calculating.

There is more to that but I'll not dive to deep into that here. It's best for the sanity of all involved.

But as you can see Personal Demeanour and Chapter Demeanour are complementing each other here nicely. Normally Vincian is calculating but once unleashed... oh my goodness.

Alex

One more thing about demeanours (I forgot to mention that in my earlier post): since they only affect your roleplaying my group decided that everybody can come up with his own demeanour when the one on the list don't fit. Perhaps your group wants to do the same, that would give you enough room to design a demeanour that reflects the personality of your character better.

Charmander isr right. the demanour list is too short anyway. if you find nothing fitting, create one on your own.

how your character is going to behave largly deppends on your idea of what you want others to see in him. For sure the majority of the Blood Angels are friendly, nobel and outgoing beings, which fight to complete the Emperor´s dream of a peaceful Galaxy. Of course their are BA which are hardly to seperate from World Eaters but i think those have suffered moments which made them this way despite their efford to stay the nobel and good hearted sons of Sangunius.

What i think that has a hughe impact on the behavior of a Blood Angel is how strong, deep and terrible his experience with the Black Rage have been in his past life. The older a BA gets the deeper he slips into the claws of the flaw and more frustrated or disillusionede he can become. The grief to see battle brothers fall victim to the flaw and the shock to recognise how close he self slide past the same fate can be life changing experiences.

I would outplay the rage just in small doses. After all it is a chapter secret. a litle freak out happens from time to time but thats most of the time has a good reason and when humna reason reappears in an BA i think he would not hesitate to apologise in an momnet whre other Asartes would be too proud to confess having made amistake.

My biggest suggestion is to remember that not EVERY Space Marine of a Chapter is the exact same in how they act. It is quite possible to have an atypical personality if you so choose.

muzzyman1981 said:

Yup. Chapter stereotypes are no reason to play someone identical to the other 999 members, and a list of ten recommended personality types is not a good reason to sticking to them. Play it how you want to play it, now how literary device has generally portrayed them in the past.

Yeah, I believe the point of this thread is provide different interpretations to serve as inspiration.

Alex

Unless you're trying to be deliberately unusual, I wouldn't make too much of the "angel" thing - particularly not if you're going off of biblical angels. I mean it's not like you're going to be playing a character who carries a bowl filled with the wrath of the Emperor that turns water into wormwood, or who has seven pairs of wings of which two cover their face and two their feet.

The "Angel" in "Blood Angel" is a lot more straightforward - it's basically pure and bright and shining.

If you want to try something unexpected, as opposed to yet another Blood Angels Assault Marine (because let's face it, it's clearly the way to go with their Chapter Bonuses) you could play an Apothecary and play up the fact that you're both a serene, sublime healer dedicated to relieving the suffering of your brothers, but must fight against an inner bloodlust which will inevitably destroy you.

Chastity said:

Well, Vincian is unusual, he is aspiring after the slain primarch. Or the Sanguinor, if you will.

Chastity said:

However from Rank 5 on, he'd put his Jump-Pack to rest and fly with a pair of "magical" wings, being a Librarian.

Chastity said:

Yeah, it all goes to show the spectrum of interpretations possible.

Alex