So, I noticed, and am sad, that the DW books up to date, at least those I own, have stepped around these autonomous soldiers of Tzeentch, and I kinda want to fix it. Some little things I am wondering, though, are how best to go about it? To facilitiate a Rubric Marine, I'm sort of thinking grab the baseline CSM, lose most of the "personality", give them Machine (X), keep the Chaos Power Armor, and add some type of field, as well as the Termie Slow rules. RM's are thoughtless without Sorcerers directing them, slow as all get out, and tough as adamant. Any changes or additions would be appreciated.

My other quandary, in this regard, Tzeentch hains new Marines, like his brothers do, and I assume most of them have already been "blessed" with the Psyker mutation, and maybe Sorcery, to start them upon a road of rampant mutation and nastyness. I know that, if the breached suits of Rubric Marines canbe recovered, they can be "patched", and the essence that haunts them does return to it, making it a functional Thousand Sons Marine, again, but based on how they were made, can there be any more, or do all later followers of Tzeentch just gain psychic power, and become Thousand Sons Sorcerers of Tzeentch?

i presume this is something they'll deal with in a Black Crusade supplement…….but, it sounds like you know the fluff behind the rubrics…..and i know you've been around here for a while….so i'd suggest you make up their rules on yer own - you seem to be on the right track: slow, unstoppable(ish), much like a space marine zombie……no real thought at all - just directed by whichever 1000 Son sorcerer happens to be in charge, or directed by a certain task or set of orders (if they're without a sorcerer).

as for new Tzeentch space marines, no, they would not be rubrics (that was an Ahriman trick). They'd probly have some crazy mutations (though not necessarily Sorcery….Tzeentch, to my mind, would grant the greatest of his gifts to those truly deserving, but not to all of his supplicants).

I would say the thousand sons legion is ironically static in numbers. The rubrics can, as you say, be patched. The space wolf books have a reccuring bad guy that actually gets killed every time, but comes back in the next one. He is a thousand sons sorceror. I would simply say that magnus has the ability to revive any of his downed sorcerors, and when he does they revive back on the planet of the sorcerors in the eye of terror, only to be sent out to do stuff again. I have never heard of the thousand sons recruiting new members in any lore I have ever read. Other legions yes, but not them. If they did, I doubt anything less than a psyker would impress them enough to take you into the fold.

You can have a tzeentch dedicated marine without it being a thousand sons legion marine also.

As far as stats for the rubric marines, they have some in black crusade's tome of fate (thousand sons sorceror's too), but that game is at a lower powerlevel than deathwatch is, so you could adapt them from that. If you want to make your own, you could go many ways with it. I personally favor the method of not having them have wounds at all. The players have to either destroy the armor that is being animated or un-possess it to get rid of the animating spirit… but them my players think I'm a little bit evil.

To be honest you have the right idea - rubric marines have no personality per se, they are slow and purposeful and their bolters fire sorcerously enhanced bolts. Maybe make it so they can never run, give them a field rating to cover the rubric (something small like 35 with no burnout) and +1 damage, +2 pen on the bolts.

Rubric Marines are given a write up in the Black Crusade supplement Tome of Fate. They are basically marines that are mindless and remote controlled by Thousand Sons Sorcerers.

Luckly the Thousand Sons have been well represented in literature. If you haven`t already done so, I would recommend reading Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns (Horus Heresy series) and The Battle of the Fang (Space Marine Battles). The Thousand Sons were a small legion to begin with, got smaller when the Space Wolves mauled them at Prospero, got smaller again when Arihman enacted his Rubic,then got smaller still when the Space Wolves mauled them again at the Fang on Fenris. The book indicated that there were less than a hundred true Thousand sons marines prior to the battle of the Fang. Since there were about 720 marines just before Arihman did his rubric one can assume that there are probably a few hundred Rubic marines in existence.