Warhammer 40,000

>Sly Marbo

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well, good thing the manager of my GW has agreed to hold a Marbo back for me

advancing the front into TV Tropes

It isn't the immortality that drives them insane though, it is becoming a Spawn that drives them insane. In fact the Immortality isn't even a basic part of becoming a Spawn, it is due to their random mutations acting as a Healing Factor and even this is a very rare occurrence with the vast majority of Spawn not even lasting for an entire battle as even if they aren't killed by the enemy, their bodies will generally just brake down due to the strain of the mutations..

edited 16th Dec '17 1:03:03 AM by SebastianGray

The Who Wants to Live Forever? trope is about people feeling angst due to immortality. The Chaos Spawn's condition is of course made so much worse because they can't die of natural causes anymore, meaning it could in theory never end — assuming they don't just break down into a puddle due to the mutations as mentioned — but they're way past being able to feel bad about it. That would require a modicum of sanity.

edited 16th Dec '17 1:14:53 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised

Yeah, Spawn don't think being immortal sucks because Spawn don't think. Like, at all. Insofar as they can even be said to have brains, they're mostly taken up with "must kill thing I just saw".

Just thought I would share this sweet piece of fan art for the Astraeus.

That is pretty sweet.

New official info on FAQs and erratas going forward. tl;dr Chapter Approved yearly, errata where necessary 2-3 weeks after a codex drop, big FAQ/errata twice a year in September and March. Additionally, they'll be "beta testing" some rule changes in big tournaments to see if they work before making them official. The two previewed ones are a fix to character targeting so that a character can't block another from being targeted (so your Captains aren't safe hiding behind a Culexus, aka what everyone wanted from Chapter Approved and not the convoluted mess we got), and a nerf to Smite so subsequent casts have a stacking -1 penalty (fixes Smite spam, but fucks over mini-Smiters like GK and TS as there's no indicated caveat for them).

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

@SebastianGray, M84, and CountDorku: So just lump it together with the Inescapable Fate Worse than Death entry?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

That would still require enough sanity to mentally beg for death. Chaos Spawn don't have that anymore.

Seriously, can you imagine being trapped in the form of a Chaos Spawn while still being completely self-aware and sane? That would be a genuine And I Must Scream scenario.

Disgusted, but not surprised

Fate Worse than Death is probably the best option, yeah. At the very least nobody who hasn't become a Spawn looks forward to the prospect of becoming one.

While I already explained why I think And I Must Scream does not fit, I agree that Fate Worse than Death works. If anyone remotely familiar with Chaos Spawn was given a choice between death and becoming a Chaos Spawn, they would pick death.

Disgusted, but not surprised

I still don't get why you guys that believe that total loss of sanity and/or lack of self-awareness means the victim is no longer capable of feeling suffering. Lots of nonhuman animals are not self-aware, yet they evidently can feel pain.

Besides, this is Chaos, and Spawndom is supposed to be a punishment in some cases; what kind of punishment would it be if the victim's existence becomes devoid of the ability to feel pain or misery?

Also, checking the Black Crusade core rulebook, it actually pretty much says that a Chaos Spawn will forever if it's not killed outright in battle. And the Tome of Decay splat has a dedicated section for Chaos Spawn, detailing both Unaligned Spawn as well as variants for each of the Chaos Gods, and the ones for Slaanesh and Tzeentch make it clear that they can feel pain.

So yeah, Chaos Spawn have lost all their intelligence and their minds are shattered beyond salvation, yet the remnants of said minds still make them capable of sensation, which results in their horrific existence being one of constant suffering.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

The Death of Personality trope might be a better fit. The person the Chaos Spawn used to be is gone, replaced with nothing but gibbering madness.

edited 17th Dec '17 7:17:52 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised

Noted: the Black Crusade rulebook is on sale for $1.99. I almost wonder if it's a mistake.

Clearing old stock-the line is no longer supported and the books have been out of print for over a year; and the first half of next year will see the launch of the new line replacing it without overlap or backwards compatibility. They are just trying to sell the last few copies to clear space without having to throw them away.

@Marq: Because that was the general impression I got from the Codexes and how Spawn generally operate on the tabletop. Passages in Black Crusade didn't enter into this belief because, while it may seem unbelievable, there are people in this hobby who don't own copies of Black Crusade, and I happen to be one of them.

Although if it's two bucks that's going to change pretty soon.

The AU$2.60 is for PDF, not physical stock. I don't think DTRPG even deals in traditionally printed material - every hard copy I've gotten from them is POD. They're not trying to clear space, just get what money they can while they can still sell them.

(Side note, it's pretty weird that most of the stuff is about half off, but the Tome of Fate is down to about a buck.)

edited 17th Dec '17 9:53:17 AM by CountDorku

Ah. Well, maybe it is just a last minute cash grab? The rest of my point stands-the new RPG line is slated for release in a few months, so that might be a factor.

Someone introduced me to making 40k calculation spreadsheets and now I can't stop.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

and we call that Math Hammer

New theme music also a box

I just made one for calculating 1v1s. You know how Dante killed the Swarmlord 1v1 in Devastation of Baal? On the tabletop, the Swarmlord can take three Dantes at once and win if he goes first.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

Named Space Marines benefiting from character shields that Bullgryns would have trouble lifting is not exactly a new thing.

Black Crusade is a third party product and therefore many fans consider it a tertiary source at best if not outright non-canon, especially when outright contradicted by a Codex, as in this case. To quote directly from the updated Foulspawn background in Codex Heretic Astartes: Death Guard: "Most Chaos Spawn die within hours of their transformation, either falling in battle or expiring as their impossibly mutated bodies give out unter the strain."

edited 17th Dec '17 12:43:16 PM by SebastianGray

Well, I suppose even if they die from being overcome by the mutations (and thus avoid living an eternity in as Chaos Spawn) their souls will be claimed by the Chaos God(s) for eternal torment in the Warp.

I don't think the Chaos Gods would allow Death of Personality, since it still counts as respite from the torment. Daemons like to reverse the insanity of Chaos in some mortal followers just to feast on the emotional anguish caused by said followers' Heel Realization; I would expect something similar for Chaos Spawn, i.e. once in a while, the Chaos God(s) would deign to restore enough of the Chaos Spawn's sanity for a minute or two, just to entertain themselves with their re-mended minds going nuts from their torturous state of existence.

edited 18th Dec '17 3:06:32 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

You seem to be under the impression that Spawndom is a punishment. While this is true in some cases, a lot of the time warriors become Spawn because the Chaos Gods don't really care enough to ensure that the recipient can survive the gifts they have been given with some of the most favoured Champions of the Gods becoming Spawn because the Gods like them so much they give them more and more blessings until their mind and bodies give out. In fact, some Spawn remain (such as Foulspawn himself) remain highly favoured by their patron and it it is these ones that tend to survive the longest, not the ones that are Spawned as a punishment or because the god didn't care.

edited 18th Dec '17 11:42:41 PM by SebastianGray