Badass Creed / Tabletop Games

• Dungeons & Dragons has one of these in chapter 3 of the Epic Level Handbook, by an unknown character:
  I want to find out the secrets of the universe. I want to participate in the constant, eternal battles of the primary forces of good, evil, law, and chaos. I want to find out that the world where 1 was born is constantly bombarded by the powers of other planes, and that only those who are powerful, who have the strength of mind and fortitude to handle such truths, are chosen to help defend it.... Or in the case of villains, only the mightiest can help the interlopers succeed in exchange for planeshaking power.
  I want to find out that the mind flayers that are horrifying in this world are only the seedling troops of an alien evil, that forever threatens to rip the Material Plane apart. I want to spit in the face of hellborn abominations and shout ‘Not on my watch!’ I want to find out that the enemies I thought were so tough when I had less experience were only shadows of the horrors beyond.
  I want to find out that cosmic barbarians are at the gates. I want to find out that the challenges I’ve faced are just the beginning.
  • The various Paladin oaths for fifth edition. The Oath of the Ancients emphasises "good"; the Oath of the Crown "law"; the Oath of Redemption "forgiveness"; the Oath of Devotion "honour"; the Oath of Conquest "tyranny"; the Oath of Heroism "glory"; the Oath of Vengeance is, well, pretty self-explanatory; and the Oath of the Watchers equally so.
    Oath of the Ancients: Kindle the light. Shelter the light. Preserve your own light. Be the light.
    Oath of Conquest: Douse the flame of hope. Rule with an iron fist. Strength above all.
    Oath of the Crown: Law. Loyalty. Courage. Responsibility.
    Oath of Devotion: Honesty. Courage. Compassion. Honor. Duty.
    Oath of Heroism: Actions over Words. Challenges Are but Tests. Embrace Destiny. Hone the Body.
    Oath of Redemption: Peace. Innocence. Patience. Wisdom.
    Oath of Vengeance: Fight the greater evil. No mercy for the wicked. By any means necessary. Restitution.
    Oath of the Watchers: Vigilance. Loyalty. Discipline.

• In Rifts, the Aerihman Clan of True Atlanteans has the words "Iuguolo Mortuuson," meaning "kill all the dead," written into their Marks of Heritage.
• Warhammer 40,000 has dozens of these, but the Emperor speaking of the creation of the Astartes stands above all others:
  They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity.
  They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear.
  • Roboute Guilliman has a great one on the same subject:
  They shall be pure of heart and strong of body, unsullied by doubt and untainted by self-aggrandizement. They will be bright stars in the firmament of battle. Angels of death whose swift wings bring extermination to the enemies of man. So it shall be for a thousand times a thousand years, unto the end of eternity and the extinction of mortal flesh.
  • Also, this one about honor:
  "The warrior who acts out of honour cannot fail. His duty is honour itself. Even his death - if it is honourable - is a reward and can be no failure, for it has come through duty. Seek honour as you act, therefore, and you will know no fear."
  • Also by the Emperor
    No world beyond my rule. No foe beyond my wrath.
  • The six most badass syllables in the whole series, uttered by virtually every character:
    The Emperor Protects.
  • The creed of the Adeptus Mechanicus is the Credo Omnissiah:
    There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal.
    There is no strength in flesh, only weakness.
    There is no constancy in flesh, only decay.
    There is no certainty in flesh but death.
  • The Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter:
    "Never Forgive! Never Forget!"
    "Repent, for tomorrow you die!"
  • Or the Black Templars:

    "What is the terror of death?"

    "That we die, our work incomplete."

    "What is the joy of life?"

    "To die, knowing our task is done."

    and also

    "Your Honour is your life. Let none dispute it"

  • Iron Hands:
    "The flesh is weak!"
  • Ultramarines:
    "Courage and honor!"
    "To admit defeat is to blaspheme."
    • From the film:
    "We are STEEL! We are DOOM! We march for Macragge! And we shall know no fear!
  • Someone called Chaplain Gonzago: "Bravery is stronger than Adamantium. One is the stuff of the soul-forges, the other an illusion of safety created by fools. Adamantium walls cannot keep us out! We have the courage of the Emperor! And in the Emperor's name... ATTACK!! ATTACK!! NO PRISONERS!!"
  • The Soul Drinkers:
    "Purity through hate. Dignity through rage. Let the fire within light the fires without."
    "Cold and Fast!"
  • The battle-prayer of the Grey Knights:
    I am the Hammer.
    I am the Hate.
    I am the tip of the Spear wielded in His hands!

    I am the Hammer!
    I am the Hate!
    I am the woes of Daemonkind!

    I am the Hammer!
    I am the Hate!
    I am the END!
    • Particularly badass because that's also used to focus a psyker power that requires a squad working together... which causes an explosion of white-hot daemon-obliterating flames.
    • Don't forget the Six Hundred and Sixty Six Words of the Canticles of Absolution. Including "Nothing shall escape our cleansing fire/Not daemon or spawn or renegade/For we are mankind's divine blade."
    • Justicar Alaric has his way with words too:
      "We do not know what our chances of survival are, so we fight as if they were zero. We do not know what we are facing, so we fight as if it was the dark gods themselves. No one will remember us now and we may never be buried beneath Titan, so we will build our own memorial here. The Chapter might lose us and the Imperium might never know we existed, but the Enemy — the Enemy will know. The Enemy will remember. We will hurt it so badly that it will never forget us until the stars burn out and the Emperor vanquishes it at the end of time. When Chaos is dying, its last thought will be of us. That is our memorial — carved into the heart of Chaos. We cannot lose, Grey Knights. We have already won."
  • The Blood Raven Oath:
    My armour is Contempt
    My shield is Disgust
    My sword is Hatred
    In the Emperor's Name
    Let none survive
    • And their other chapter motto:
      Knowledge is power
      Guard it well
    • And their later motto:
      None shall find us wanting.
  • The White Scars' Assault Hymn:
    Walls of Stone, Walls of Iron,
    Fall down all the same.
    They may delay, but never prevent
    The hail of death and pain.
  • The Salamanders battle-cry:
    Into the fires of battle!
    Unto the anvil of war!
  • The Raven Guard is quite restrained, simply stating "Vinctorus aut Mortis" as their creed (Victory or Death).
  • The Lamenters battle-cry epitomises their noble, self sacrificing nature:
    For those we cherish, we die in glory!
    • As does this quote from one of their Captains, Anaes Rychter:
    I am of the scions of Sanguinius. Mine is the glory of sacrifice eternal, mine is the duty that never ends.
  • Black Templars:
    No Pity! No Remorse! No Fear!
  • "None can stand in our way, for we are the Space Marines."
  • We are the Space Marines! The Emperors' chosen warriors! For every one of us that falls in battle, ONE THOUSAND ENEMIES SHALL DIE!"
  • Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka got in a pretty good one, too:
    "I'm da hand of Gork and Mork, dey sent me to rouse up da boyz to crush and kill 'cos da boyz forgot what dere 're for. I woz one of da boyz till da godz smashed me in da 'ead an' I 'membered dat Orks is meant to conquer and make slaves of everything they don't kill. I'm da profit of da Waaagh an' whole worlds burn in my boot prints. I'm death to anyfing dat walks, where I go nothin' stands in my way. I iz more cunnin' than a Grot an' more killy dan a Dread. I'm Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka an' I speak wiv da word of da gods. We iz gonna stomp da 'ooniverse flat an' kill anyfing that fights back. We iz gonna do this coz' we're Orks an' we was made to fight an' win."

    (Graffiti on Warlord Titan wreckage, found by Dark Angels at Westerisle, Piscina IV.)
  • Legio Ignatum has a notable one:
    "The enemies of man shall die. By my hand they will be broken.
    • It has this one as well:
      "Inveniam viam aut faciam(I will either find a way, or I shall make one)."
  • The different Temples of the Officio Assassinorum ("A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn") don't need huge paragraphs to terrify.
    Dictatus Vindicare: "Exitus Actas Probat - the Outcome Justifies the Deed."
    Dictatus Culexus: "That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear."
    Dictatus Callidus: "To assume the shape of the accursed and deliver death from the purity within you."
    Dictatus Eversor: "Fear me, for I am your apocalypse."
  • Also for the Officio Assassinorum, not the creed, but still badass sounding: "Ask not for whom they seek, lest it be thyself."
    • Or their motto, "Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind."
    • And an unofficial and slightly tongue-in-cheek Vindicare creed: "Three things matter in marksmanship: Location, location, location."
  • The Inquisition. Three words: "Innocentia Nihil Probat."
    • Or, for those of you who don't speak High Gothic, "Innocence Proves Nothing".
    • BURN THE HERETIC! KILL THE MUTANT! PURGE THE UNCLEAN!
    • Inquisitor Lord Karamazov had a particularly memorable one: "A plea of Innocence is Guilty of wasting my time! GUILTY!"
  • The ordinary human mooks of the Imperial Guard also get one in Dawn of War: Winter Assault
    We die standing.
    • The fluff has dozens for the Guard -
    We are the Imperial Guard. We are are the Hammer of the Emperor, by the virtue of fighting wars as unforgivingly as a Hammer strike to the face.
  • As of their fifth edition codex, even the most common of redshirts—the Cadian army—get their own;
    "We are Cadians. We bar the gates to hell! If they are flung open, it is we who will slam them shut."
    • Creed manages, with two words, to give the Cadians a new rallying cry in Fall of Cadia.
    "Cadia stands"
    • Also, from the aftermath of the Fall of Cadia
    "The planet broke before the guard."
  • Your foe is well equipped, well-trained, battle-hardened. He believes his gods are on his side. Let him believe what he will. We have the tanks on ours.
    • To each of us falls a task. And all the Emperor requires of us Guardsmen is that we stand in line, and we die fighting. It is what we do best: we die standing.
    For every hero commemorated, a thousand martyrs die unmourned and unremembered.
    MORE MEN! MORE TANKS!
    • The legend says that Saint Ollanius Pius, the Patron Saint of the Imperial Guard delivered this line while standing between the Horus and battered Emperor.
    "Where I fall ten more shall take my place! And one-hundred each of them! So strike me down! I am the harbinger!"
  • And we can't forget about the man, the myth, and the legend that is Sly Marbo:
    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
  • What, no love for Chaos? Here:
    "This is our galaxy. Ours to corrupt. Ours to enslave. The gods will not be denied their prize."
    • And here:
    Hate shall be our weapon.
    Impurity shall be our armor.
    Immortality shall be our reward.
    • Chaos in a nutshell: SANITY IS FOR THE WEAK!
    • Or here:
    "BLESSED BE THE AXE THAT MAIMS AND THE BLOOD IT BRINGS! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE OF KHORNE!"
    • And the fan-made parody for the Slaaneshi cultists: "PORN FOR THE PORN GOD!"
    • Black Legion:
    "Kill for the living, Kill for the dead."
    • That was their slogan even when they were the Luna Wolves.
    • Iron Warriors:
    "IRON WITHIN, IRON WITHOUT!"
    • Also, their Unbreakable Litany:
    From iron cometh strength. From strength cometh will. From will cometh faith. From faith cometh honour. From honour cometh iron.
    • Thousand Sons:
    "All is dust."
    • Night Lords:
    "We have come for you!"
    • and of course Kharn's mantra: KILL! MAIM! BURN!
  • Said of, as opposed to by, the Tyranids, doubling as both a Badass Creed and scary as fuck:
    They are coming! I feel them scratching inside my mind, scratching, screaming, running, so many- so, so many voices. They're coming for us - flesh, body and soul!"
  • Tau heroes have come up with plenty, but the best is from Commander Shadowsun:
    To follow any path other than the Tau'va is to doom us all. Only together and with courage and discipline shall we stand victorious. Fight with fire and courage and nothing can stand against us.
    • Tau Commander Shas'O Sa'cea Dre'koran Ta'ar's famous last words to the Ultramarines.
    I do not fear death. Death fears ME!
  • The Space Wolves Ragnar Blackmane gives one that best sums up the Chapter:
    We may be few, and our enemies many, yet so long as there remains one of us still fighting, one who still rages in the name of justice and truth, then by the Allfather, the galaxy shall yet know hope.
    • "For Russ and the Allfather!"
  • The Eldar battlecry:
    Blood runs. Anger rises. Death wakes. War calls!
    • Another Eldar one:
    We bring only death, and leave only carrion. It is a message even a Human can understand.
  • Maugan Ra's personal creed:
  War is my master, Death my mistress.
  • "Feel the rush of the wind against your skin and hear her cry keening in your ears. Listen to her call well, for are we not Wild Riders, the children of the storm?"
  • How can you forget CREEEEEEEEEED!
  • Perhaps the one that sums up the entirety of the Space Marines in ten, brutal words -
    "I shall know no fear, for I am fear incarnate!"
  • What, no love for the Death Korps?
    "In life, war. In death, peace. In life, shame. In death, atonement."
  • Tyrannids:
    Om nom nom
  • MOAR DAKKA! and Red Wunz Go Fasta
  • One happened in a Deathwatch game. While loading on their Drop Ship to fight a rebelling squad of Space Marines, the following dialogue happens.
    Ioustinos: "Emperor protect us and forgive those we're against"
    Xavier: "For we certainly have no intention to."
• Don't forget Warhammer - it has its moments too. From WFBattle rulebook, we have this quote by a Greater Deamon of Khorne (unfortunately, from memory, so may be incorrect): "There are countless worlds in the Void [...] But I have chosen this world to conquer, and by Khorne, I'll do so even if it takes a thousand years!"
  • And, of course, Khorne's other followers- BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!
  • The knights of Bretonnia take up several awesome vows, but the Grail vow is just made of win:
  "...That which is sacrosanct I shall preserve.
  That which is sublime, I will protect.
  That which threaten, I will destroy.
  For my holy wrath will knows no bound..."
  • Grimgor Ironhide has a pretty good one:
  I'm gonna stomp em to dust. I'm gonna burn all der cities and towns. I'm gonna roast em up inna big fire. I'm gonna grind der bones and jump up an down on the rest of da bits. An den, I'm gonna get really mean.
  • The Shadow Elves have the fairly restrained:
  Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is forgiven.
• Every one of the Pentacle Orders from Mage: The Awakening gets a Badass Creed. To whit:
  • The Adamantine Arrow: "Existence Is War. Enlightenment Is Honour. Adaptability Is Strength. The Supernal Is The Self. Service Is Mastery."
  • The Free Council: "Democracy seeks the truth; hierarchy fosters the Lie. Humanity is magical; human works have arcane secrets. Destroy the followers of the Lie."
  • The Guardians of the Veil: "Paradoxes strengthen the Abyss as punishment answers pride. Sins for a just end grant Wisdom to the Awakened. Merit must guide the Fallen World."
    • Those are just the Exoteric Tenets that other Mages are allowed to know about. Their Esoteric Tenets, the secret mottos of the Order, are significantly more frightening. To whit: All Thrones Are False Thrones, All Souls are Flawed. There Is a Secret Hierarchy of Souls. The Heiromagus Will Fulfill the Diamond Wheel
  • The Mysterium: "Knowledge is power. Knowledge must be preserved. Knowledge has a price."
  • The Silver Ladder: "The Awakened are one Nation. Imperium is the right of humanity. The Silver Ladder is the path to victory. The Sleepers follow."
  • While the Pentacle hope to Awaken humanity to higher truth, the Seers of the Throne wish humanity to stay Sleeping while hoarding higher truths for themselves: "True Power Requires Obedience. True Power Requires Sacrifice. True Power Requires Vigilance. True Power Requires Discipline. True Power Requires Understanding. True Power Requires Courage."
• In Traveller: Interstellar Wars the Vilani "Legion of the Frontier" has the motto, "We are here to die." (Lifted shamelessly from the French Foreign Legion, see below.)
• The Way of the Tiger gamebook series has two. The first is the "Ninja No Chigiri" learnt by all ninjas of the Way of the Tiger including your character :-
  "I will vanish into the night; change my body to wood or stone; sink into the earth and walk through walls and locked doors. I will be killed many times, yet will not die; change my face and become invisible, able to walk among men without being seen."
  • The second is the Litany of the Ninja Grandmaster which can only be learned if you answer two questions correctly at the very start of the series :-
  "I AM NINJA
  My parents are the Heaven and Earth
  My Home is my Body
  My Power is Loyalty
  My Magic is Training
  My Life and my Death is Breathing
  My Body is Control
  My Eyes are the Sun and Moon
  My Ears are Sensitivity
  My Laws are Self-Protection
  My Strength is Adaptability
  My Ambition is taking every Opportunity with Fullness
  My Friend is my Mind
  My Enemy is Carelessness
  My Protection is Right Action
  My Weapons are Everything that Exists
  My Strategy is One Foot in front of the Other
  My Trust is in Kwon
  MY WAY IS THE WAY OF THE TIGER"

---

Back to Badass Creed.