Deathwatch Codex Chapter (non-Deathwatch) Campaign Advice/Suggestions

What I did with my chapter background, which may be applicable to you, is do away with any idea of progression between squad types. Marines are marines, and if you're good enough to become one you're already a master of war. Battle companies have 100 dudes (and dudettes ;) ) and what they do [URL="http://collegiatitanica.blogspot.com.au/2009/07/rainbow-warriors-chapter-variance.html"]depends on the tactical situation needed[/URL]. My 1st company isn't vets but specialists - recon teams, sappers and so on - so if a line trooper is noted as exceptional in one area they get moved there.

Could work in your situation so you can have them running around with lascannons and such one day then strapping on jump-packs the next without worrying about some concept of progression. Also means you can ignore a squad type if nobody likes it.

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Originally Posted by GrandmasterRay

I'm thinking the best way to handle the non-vet period is to adjust the point that they are considered vets, rather than creating new tables to cover the in-between rank. That would be a lot less cumbersome. Also, since the normal rules give almost all of the rank 1 general advancements to starting marines, I'll just consider all of the rank 1 tables to be "Scout" tables. So the rank 1 tables (across all specialties) will be Scout tables, rank 2 (and maybe 3) will be the 15-25 years or so that they will be experiencing the tactical, devastator, and assault service, and then they will be Sergeants/Vets after that. Also concerning the talents, skills, and solo/squad abilities acquired by choosing a specialty, They will all receive the talents and skills given by the specialty (regardless of chosen specialty, discounting some from librarian, tech-marine, and apothecary) upon entry into that specialty service. For instance, all of the PCs will receive pilot(personal) and swift attack upon entry into a assault squad. The Solo and squad abilities for the specialization won't be unlocked until the receive veteran status.

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I think this seems pretty workable. Just to be sure, do you have a copy of Rites of Battle? Not all of its Advanced Specializations are appropriate for a non-Deathwatch campaign, but the Epistolary, Forge Master, and Veteran classes would all be good things to have for a campaign where you intend your PCs to become, well, veterans.

From what I've seen, duty progression varies from chapter to chapter quite a lot. For example, Blood Angels tend to start out (after scouts) as Assault Marines (in a reserve force), then go to Devastator, then to Tactical, (assuming they decide to progress beyond a given step). The logic that is used is that the Blood angels have a natural predilection for assault (no quibbles there), but tactical duty requires a good understanding of all the aspects of warfare, which is a valid viewpoint. Veteran status seems to be based on experience, but I don't recall any requirement for a Marine to have progressed through x number of duties to join the hallowed ranks of the first company, the Sanguinary Guard or a company's honour guard.

Contrast that with the Space Wolves. They go Blood Claws (Assault), Grey Hunters (Tactical), Long Fangs (Devastator), based on experience tempering the Fenrisian predilection to get up close and tear things apart. Becoming a member of the Wolf Guard is based less on age and experience and more on a Marine doing something awesome, and scouts come from a deviation in the personality of the given Marine rather then specific training.

Two very different approaches to career progression based on the culture of the chapter.

So, to get to my point, I think you can pretty much do what you want with your chapter, just make sure it fits with the ethos of the chapter first. As an aside, if you haven't looked at it, you might want to review the character creation rules in Black Crusade if you want a baseline for a 'regular' Marine. Some tweaking will most likely be needed, but IMO it's a good starting point (it ends up being a 7000 exp point character off memory).