Hello all! I just wanted to share my custom chapter I've been working on for a while, notably before the I discovered Deathwatch and the Rites of Battle Supplement. I'll be updating this frequently but for the moment I'll just share their fluff with you guys!

Here are the rules for the chapter

Demeanour: The Promethean Cult

Figures of Legend: The Purgation Company [is this not acceptable, I'm not positive if 4 companies worth of men would be acceptable fluff-wise]

Characteristic Modifiers: +5 Strength +5 Toughness

Bonus Talent: Hatred (Necrons)

Solo-Mode: Fire-Born

Squad Mode Attack Pattern: Siege-Breaker

Squad Mode Defensive Stance: Only in Death...

Chapter Friends: Imperial Fists/Salamanders, or PDFs (of worlds they helped colonize)

Chapter Enemies: Necrons

Due to the care with which they make their first weapon in the forge all Stone Lords Space Marine characters start with a Combat Knife of master craftsmanship.

Advances:

Demolition-200

Demolition +10-300

Demolition +20-400

Survival-200

Survival +10-300

Survival +20-400

Climb-200

Climb +10-300

Climb +20-400

Artificier (x3) (description in Salamanders section of First Founding)-800

Hammer Blow-600

Furious Assault-600

Hardy-400

Hatred (Orks)-400

Talented: Trade (Armourer)-500

HISTORY

The Stone Lords were founded at the request of several High-Lords to aid against the numerous Xenos assailing the Imperium as a part of the 17th founding during the 36th Millenium. The High Lords requested that the Gene-Seed of the Salamanders chapter be used to create this chapter, feeling that the sons of Vulkan's gene-stock had been heavily under-utilized in the founding of new chapters. Training of the chapter was overseen by the Firedrakes of the Salamanders 1st company. The firedrakes performed this role admirably and in turn the Stone Lords inherited the teachings of the Promethean Cult and many of the Salamanders practices, including their skill as artificiers. They were gifted with the planet of Petram located in the Segmentum Obscurus as their homeworld, and were quick to assume direct rule over the desert planet and were quick to prove themselves as exceptional planetary defenders in the wake of several Dark Eldar Raids and Ork Waaaghs! The chapter quickly gained a solid reputation for their effectiveness at training and establishing PDFs on newly settled worlds in the Imperium, even gaining the admiration of their brothers in the Imperial Fists chapter for their mastery of Siege Warfare and their numerous successes defending newly colonized worlds.

The Stone Lords earned many distinctions during the Second Tyrannic war, fending off attacks from Hive Fleet Kraken on several worlds, and further established their reputation as stalwart defenders in the face of forces outnumbering them, in particular Ork Waaaghs! and Tyranid Splinter fleets. But it would not be until the 41st Millenium that the Stone Lords would be faced with a new threat, the awakening Necron Dynasties emerging from their aeons long slumber. Several planets that the Stone Lords had a hand in colonizing were faced with this ancient threat, and the Stone Lords were fast to react to this mysterious new enemy. They were quick to react to the awakening of tombs on these worlds and managed to purge many tombs, but not all, although they were successful the Stone Lords suffered heavy losses and even had to witness several worlds they had helped establish become subject to Exterminatus.

The Stone Lords gained a special Hatred for the Necrons and the severe losses they inflicted upon their chapter. The chapter entered a period of recovery, aggressively recruiting new initiates to their chapter and remarkably returning to full strength within several centuries. During this period the chapter comitted their 4 reserve companies, which remained on Petram while the rest of the chapter reacted to the Necron threat, to a crusade against the Necrons. The reserves purged many tombs on the behalf of the Ordos Xenos and acted as an unbreakable hammer, utterly relentless in their actions as a vanguard for other forces of the imperium, fueled by their hate for those who struck such a felling blow to their chapter. These reserves would return from their crusade to Petram with extensive knowledge in combating Necrons, and were lauded as heroes of their chapter by their battle-brothers and the citizens of Petram alike. Upon their return the reserves were merged into a single company charged with purging the tombs of the Necrontyr, earning the title of Purgation Company.

HOMEWORLD/RECRUITMENT

Petram is a vast world, consisting of arid deserts, numerous mountain ranges, oasis, an extensive river system, and a single Hive City located on the planet's North Pole. Denizens of the planet either live at one of the many outposts tasked with processing the planet's water supply drawn from its rivers and oasis, mining colonies located by the planet's mountain ranges, the Hive City itself, or the nomadic people who roam the desert. Each of the Chapter's 5 battle-companies is tasked with overseeing these populations and also draw their recruits from them.

Petram is home to several bands of feral Orks that roam the planet's mountain ranges, as a result of frequent forays to the planet by Ork warbands.

Upon recruitment to the chapter Aspirants undergo the standard implantation process and are taught the basic tenets of tending to their own suits of Power Armor by the Chapters Techmarines, and sometimes Artificers. Over the course of their training they also learn the art of forging, and by the time they are ready for testing in the forges of battle they will have crafted their own combat knife or bludgeon. The receiving of one's Power Armor is considered to be the end of one's initiation into the Stone Lords, and a ceremony is held where an initiate is given his suit by his assigned mentor in the 1st company. Once their training is complete, aspirants are placed in service alongside one of the veterans of the 1st company until they are deemed fit for service in a battle company. It is not entirely rare to see multiple initiates serving under one master, but this usually numbers at the most three at a time.

After their induction as a full fledged Space Marine into the 2nd-6th companies, Astartes are allowed to make visits to their place of birth and offer aid to their Families and mining communities, embarking on hunts for threatening wildlife and pockets of Feral Orks residing in the mountains. During these pilgrimages to their homes Astartes have been known to bring back several young aspirants who have proven themselves in battle to be recruited into the chapter.

The Stone Lord's Fortress Monastery is located within the largest mountain on Petram, Magnum Montem , it is here that the 1st and Purgation companies reside when they are not battling the foes of the Imperium. The 2nd-6th companies have their own outposts scattered across the planet, with the exception of the Hive Lords company, who possess a single fortress located in the center of the planet's Hive City.

ORGANISATION

The Stone Lords loosely adhere to the organisational tenets of the Codex Astartes, but tend to follow the company structure of their primogenitors of the Salamanders chapter with 120 brothers serving in each company. After the conflict with the Necrons, the Stone Lords merged their 4 reserves into a single 480 man strong purgation company. In addition the chapter lacks a scout company, and new recruits serve alongside the veterans of the 1st company. Like the Salamanders the 1st company is lead by the Lord-Master of the Stone Lords, the current one being Lord Master Igneus [yes this is where my username comes from!]. Titles amongst these companies vary from those used in the Codex Astartes, with each company being (apart from the 1st) being led by a Lord. The Purgation company is led by a council of 4 lords, with each commanding one of the 4 sub-companies. Each company is comprised of 4 Tactical, Assault, and Devastator squads rather than the 7 tactical, 2 assault, and 3 devastator squads present in the Salamanders' battle companies.

COMBAT DOCTRINE

The Stone Lords are experienced in the art of siege warfare, but are fully capable of utilizing other tactics. The Stone Lords are known to possess a large quantity of centurion armour, many of which are employed by the purgation company, who are particularly adept at the usage of the armour in combating Necrons, using their weapons to utterly obliterate the remains of Necrons to the point that they are incapable of reanimating.

The Stone Lords are capable of employing the full range of wargear used among space marine chapters, but have been known to more frequently employ grav and melta weaponry in sieges and in combat against the Necrons. Scouts and tactical marines have been known to utilize stalker pattern bolters from heavily fortified positions of defense during sieges, utilizing them to pick off key targets during sieges. In melee combat the Stone Lords favour the use of raw power over swiftness and finesse, favoring the usage of power fists, thunder hammers, power axes, and their own club like weapons that the natives of Petram often carry. Some initiates choose to craft finer versions of these bludgeons in place of combat knives upon initiation. Stone Lords are not as eager to rush into close combat in comparison to other chapters, rather they let loose their firepower until their enemies reach them in close combat.

GENE-SEED

The Stone Lords have inherited the characteristic mutations present in the Salamanders gene-seed, namely the melanchromic organ, however the world of Petram does not possess the high radiation present on Nocturne. In turn members of the Stone Lords do not possess the characteristic onyx-black skin of their primogenitors, but rather they possess a fairly dark complexion. They do however, possess the same bright-red eyes as their Primogenitors.

IN THE REACH [for anyone who might want to include this chapter in your campaigns as an outside force]

Recently the Stone Lords' Purgation Company has arrived in the Jericho Reach, although they have on several occasions assisted in defensive actions and protracted sieges against Stigmartus forces and the swarms of Hive Fleet Dagon, they seem to be more active in the Eastern Fringes, investigating select planets and training their PDFs for encounters with xenos unlike any other they have encountered... [iTS THE NECRONS]

I've updated this with character creation rules if anyone is interested!

And please offer constructive criticism if you have it! It would be much appreciated!

So I have finished the rough version of their background fluff, now I wanted to share an idea for one of their chapter trappings, being an alternative option for a combat knife, the club weapons I mentioned in the combat doctrine section.

Adamantine Bludgeon : melee, 1d10+3I, Pen: 3, Felling (1), Unwieldy, Weight: 23 kg, 15 Requisition

I like this chapter. I've never seen anyone try to use Salamanders Gene-Seed, even in homebrews, so bonus points. I also like the mental image that comes up when I read "Adamantine Bludgeon" I also love the idea that they go help their home village, and just happen to notice a few young men that seem kick-ass enough, and just be like "i'll just take these promising people back with me...."

I like this chapter. I've never seen anyone try to use Salamanders Gene-Seed, even in homebrews, so bonus points. I also like the mental image that comes up when I read "Adamantine Bludgeon" I also love the idea that they go help their home village, and just happen to notice a few young men that seem kick-ass enough, and just be like "i'll just take these promising people back with me...."

Thanks! Its nice to have someone other than me post on this. I feel like Salamander successors are more doable than Space Wolves, but they'd probably be pretty rare as well.

I'll also post their Relics later on today.

So, first off, I really like the concept, it's very well thought out, and they sound like they would be fun to play!

Now on to some nitpicking. Feel free to disregard any or all of this, they're your chapter, I'm just giving my opinion.

First and most importantly, when listing the solo and squad mode abilities, and talents available other than ones from the core rulebook, it would be *very* helpful to list the book (even an abbreviated version of it, like RoB or HtC or FF, etc, there aren't that many books, we can figure it out), as well as the page number being used as a source, so we know what you're talking about. As a particular example, the "Artificer" talent(?) is not one I'm familiar with, so I have no idea what effects it has.

In terms of the "Bonus Talent", I'm not a huge fan of those in the first place, but if you're going to have one for those who choose the chapter, it should be one or the other, not both. Otherwise you're giving characters a thousand free XP in exchange for choosing your chapter, which is sure to elicit some griping from those not choosing them.

In terms of the available advances, Thunder Charge is normally only available to the Storm Wardens, and is 1000XP for them. Having it available for your chapter is fine, but it should not be available for a lower XP cost than it is for the chapter known for it, so it should be at *least* 1000 XP. You also have a rather massive list (remember, the ones from RoB are 10 items, and all other ones are between 10 and at most 14 items), so I would recommend dropping Crushing Blow (it's meant to be a power up, getting it at 1st level is slightly imbalanced, and also makes it so you appreciate it less, as the damage you're doing just seems normal), as well as Hatred (tyranids). Hatred (necrons) and (orks) makes utter sense, and fits the theme of the chapter, hatred (tyranids) seems like a stretch, and provides too many hatred options for one chapter. They can't utterly and completely hate *everything*, after all. Besides which, it's available at Rank 2 for general deathwatch advances, so it's not a big loss. Finally, I would also recommend switching either Hammer Blow or Furious Assault, and swapping it for Talented: Trade (armorer), to better represent their training under the Techmarines, and their inherent ability to design and build.

In terms of fluff, I love absolutely everything about it, with the exception of the building of their own suit of Power Armor. Building a suit of Power Armor is a *big* deal, one requiring significant work, and you have it being accomplished by people who, at this point, have neither Tech Use nor Trade: Armorer as skills! Beyond which, what happens then to the Power Armor of those who fall in battle? Since the Neophyte who will eventually replace him is going to build a new set anyway, do they simply discard it? I would either change it so that it's more that they learn to customize their suit, or that they build a simpler item, such as their Bolter, or possibly even their Combat Knife (which would then hold ceremonial significance for them). If it's anything more complicated than their Combat Knife, you will want to reflect that in something then that they have upon character creation. So, I would recommend either having the Bonus Talent (remember, you only want 1) being Trade: Armorer, or (way cooler imho) that they choose their armor history instead of rolling randomly, reflecting their customization of their armor and synergy with the machine spirit. The Hardy and Hatred: Necrons could be moved onto the list of available advances.

So, first off, I really like the concept, it's very well thought out, and they sound like they would be fun to play!

Now on to some nitpicking. Feel free to disregard any or all of this, they're your chapter, I'm just giving my opinion.

First and most importantly, when listing the solo and squad mode abilities, and talents available other than ones from the core rulebook, it would be *very* helpful to list the book (even an abbreviated version of it, like RoB or HtC or FF, etc, there aren't that many books, we can figure it out), as well as the page number being used as a source, so we know what you're talking about. As a particular example, the "Artificer" talent(?) is not one I'm familiar with, so I have no idea what effects it has.

In terms of the "Bonus Talent", I'm not a huge fan of those in the first place, but if you're going to have one for those who choose the chapter, it should be one or the other, not both. Otherwise you're giving characters a thousand free XP in exchange for choosing your chapter, which is sure to elicit some griping from those not choosing them.

In terms of the available advances, Thunder Charge is normally only available to the Storm Wardens, and is 1000XP for them. Having it available for your chapter is fine, but it should not be available for a lower XP cost than it is for the chapter known for it, so it should be at *least* 1000 XP. You also have a rather massive list (remember, the ones from RoB are 10 items, and all other ones are between 10 and at most 14 items), so I would recommend dropping Crushing Blow (it's meant to be a power up, getting it at 1st level is slightly imbalanced, and also makes it so you appreciate it less, as the damage you're doing just seems normal), as well as Hatred (tyranids). Hatred (necrons) and (orks) makes utter sense, and fits the theme of the chapter, hatred (tyranids) seems like a stretch, and provides too many hatred options for one chapter. They can't utterly and completely hate *everything*, after all. Besides which, it's available at Rank 2 for general deathwatch advances, so it's not a big loss. Finally, I would also recommend switching either Hammer Blow or Furious Assault, and swapping it for Talented: Trade (armorer), to better represent their training under the Techmarines, and their inherent ability to design and build.

In terms of fluff, I love absolutely everything about it, with the exception of the building of their own suit of Power Armor. Building a suit of Power Armor is a *big* deal, one requiring significant work, and you have it being accomplished by people who, at this point, have neither Tech Use nor Trade: Armorer as skills! Beyond which, what happens then to the Power Armor of those who fall in battle? Since the Neophyte who will eventually replace him is going to build a new set anyway, do they simply discard it? I would either change it so that it's more that they learn to customize their suit, or that they build a simpler item, such as their Bolter, or possibly even their Combat Knife (which would then hold ceremonial significance for them). If it's anything more complicated than their Combat Knife, you will want to reflect that in something then that they have upon character creation. So, I would recommend either having the Bonus Talent (remember, you only want 1) being Trade: Armorer, or (way cooler imho) that they choose their armor history instead of rolling randomly, reflecting their customization of their armor and synergy with the machine spirit. The Hardy and Hatred: Necrons could be moved onto the list of available advances.

Thanks for the advice, I made some changes and scrapped Thunder Charge and Crushing Blow. Also changed some fluff and added a bit.

Wow, yeah, with those changes, what you have there looks like a well fleshed out, balanced, playable custom chapter. Congratulations. I really like it, it's different enough to be unique and interesting without being 'kooky'.

So here are the Relics!

The Hammer of Petram: Class: Melee Damage: 2d10+7 E Pen: 10 Special: Power Field, Unwieldy, Felling (2), Concussive Wt: 20 Req: 70 Renown: Hero

Blood of Nocturne: Class: Basic Range: 30m ROF: S/-/- Damage: 2d10+16 E Pen: 14 Clip: 6 Reload: 2 Full Special: Blast (2), Felling (1) Wt: 15 Req: 60 Renown: Hero

The Blood of Nocturne is a Melta-Gun

Stoneskin (Artificier Armour): AP: 12 all WT: 100 Req: 70 Renown: Hero

The Stoneskin is a unique set of Artificier Armour that utilizes several unique features. The strength and durability of this armour allows its wearer to ignore the effects of weapons with the Felling quality, however such is the emphasis on durability over speed that this armour imposes a -10 Agility penalty. In addition the armours gauntlets feature sharp, barbed finger-pieces to allow greater ease climbing steep faces gripping rocks or other objects when scaling cliff-faces. The armour grants the wearer a +10 bonus to climbing tests and also grants their unarmed attacks the tearing quality.

Looks cool.