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Yeah... maybe...
Ah well. I'm actually going to try drawing one, it's just I can never get the face right. Or the posture. It just ends up looking really strange.

Don't worry about things being perfect, I think if you go into more detail about the types of weapons that they carry, it might be a lot more useful to your drawings, I don't know if you have done this in your codex yet or not. One thing I have an image of in mind is wrist mounted weapons, as this allows them to use their claws and other such animalistic qualities.

What I will say about the posturing and stuff for your drawings, don't try to draw from your mind, find lots of source material as inspiration. I and adapt and work that. I think that the Na'VI from the Avatar film have a very similar niche as your race, yours may be a bit more feline but I can't help draw some similarities with them.

The actual basis of the race was going to be more elven/Avatar-ish, but after several complaints form my friends about how that was far to similar to the Eldar I thought humanoid felines would be a nice niche for 40k. They haven't got anything like that, so...
As for weapons, tbh I'm actually pretty good at 2D engineering sketches on graph paper, and I've had a go at designing some of the Lynx's more commonly used weapons, like their Lance Rifles. Lance weaponry is a nice niche as well; no-onne else in 40k uses crystal as weaponry, I believe.
Oh, and keep an eye on the first page. I'm uploading the first page of the codex. It's nothing special, just a little taster.

Not a bad opening to your race, but I personally think it needs toning down a little bit, at the minute you seem to be writing the Lynx to be bigger and better than humans in everyway, they are quicker, stronger, faster, chainswords can't hurt them, they are better psykers etc. how I would write them, and this is my opinion on it, take it or leave it, as they are your race and you can go as crazy on them as you like, but what I would do is try to write them as more creatures than humans. Go with the Feline, tribal, nature of them, unleash the beast in them. I feel that the race suits a more feral nature, yes I understand that you want them to be more than mindless beasts like orks, But the humanoid thing is done quite extensively in 40k, unleash the beast a little. Personally I would have them as hunters, second to none in their martial prowess, and stealth like abilities. Make them assassins, and cut back a little on the everyone is an amazing psyker stuff, maybe only have certain more elite cats in the litter make it to the psychic level. Prehaps the opportunity to align them selves with the crystals is open to everyone, but due to the weak mindedness of some of the cats they perish, and only the truely strong can master the powers of the crystals?

Sorry for the silly long post, I hope some of this helps, take or leave whatever you like, question me if you want. Just remember when you are writing a race, its the flaws that people emphasis with more than their strengths, anyone can write a super awesome magical man with no way of hurting him, it takes a lot more care and skill to write a race/character with a flaw. I could go into this point all day but I won't bore you, I hope this helps, if you want me to expand on any of my above points I will.

Caveman has really good suggestions.

I can make them more bestial easy. I'll integrate it into the cultural aspects. And I think I said something about the Lynx being better than humanity somewhere in the thread. Not sure where, but it went along the lines of: "The Lynx are meant to be a glimpse of what humanity could possibly become when the psyker gene becomes apparent in all humans, just without the furriness. Better in every way, if only slightly." At least, I think that's how it went.

The crystals. This is something I get from a lot of people, so I'm going to clear them up once and for all.

These crystals are named Psytrix Crystals by the Lynx, due to their tendency to absorb and magnify psychic energy. Even a small shard can hold an incredible amount of energy, which is why the Lynx all wear one on a silver necklace. The silver is just considered to be a sacred metal, so nothing really special about it. Now the Lynx are standing on an even thinner knife-edge than normal psykers. As they shine very brightly in the Warp, this attracts huge amounts of daemons to their souls. The Psytrix Crystals are effectively a psychic barrier of sorts that prevents said Daemons and Enslavers from possessing them or using them as portals to the material dimension. With me so far?

If a Lynx was to remove their necklace they would A. be unable to use their abilities as they rely directly upon these crystals to perform any sort of psychic manipulation and B. Would be possessed in a manner of milliseconds. I have reflected this in-game by making it mandatory for a Lynx army to take an extra unit that costs little, but is required for the Lynx to use their psychic powers in the first place. It's also stationary and cannot attack. If they stray outside a set range (which varies in radius for each level of psyker) then they lose the ability to use their powers, plus D3 models have to be removed as casualties as they suffer from "psychic withdrawal", or just baseline possession, at which point they are shot in the face by the others in the unit to put them out of their suffering (poor joke, sorry). They are so dependent upon this energy that they'll die in minutes if outside of a major crystal's psychic field. The amount of energy they suck from themselves to fuel their personal shields (which vary in power) and for other bodily functions would burn them out very quickly.

Now this crystal is used for a wide variety of things in the Lynx's society, from ammunition and armour to low-light torches. The reason they do so is because this crystal is more plentiful on all of their planets than any other natural resource. Plus, it grows. Like a living thing. It will slowly grow back of a long period of time, and the amount of said Crystal on a single Lynx planet so so vast they could never hope to mine it as fast as it regenerates. It seems to work for any psyker that is in possession, so the Eldar, and to some extent, the Imperium, hound after this crystal to protect their souls.

Finally, the Crystal is also used in emergency operations. A good example would be the High Priestess. After being shot by a Baneblade that nearly tore through her shield, she had to have emergency surgery. Every bone in her body was broken. As there was no chance of the bones healing, they surgically removed each bone and replaced it with a crystal replica, one fragment at a time. Needless to say, this caused her a great deal of pain afterwards as her body tried to adapt to this new skeleton. But it did give her powers an unnatural boost...

Hope that explains the crystals a bit more, and clears up some questions.

On a less boring note, I've altered them a bit so not all of them are psykers. This will sound really strange, but as a last resort a Lynx's DNA will reform itself and create a gene pattern similar to the pariah gene found in humans. This causes the Lynx in question to lose their psychic ability altogether and become a psychic blank. Whilst they are an immense danger to the rest of the Lynx populace, they are very valuable on the battlefield where they can be used to cripple enemy psykers. This is quite shocking to the poor Lynx when they find they have been stripped of their abilities, and many end up being mercy-killed after suffering mental trauma. Those who survive join the ranks of the Silencers, the anti-psykers of the Lynx armies.

 Mynameisalie wrote:
"The Lynx are meant to be a glimpse of what humanity could possibly become when the psyker gene becomes apparent in all humans, just without the furriness. Better in every way, if only slightly."

With respect, I think a psychic Human species would be closer to this:



or this:



or this:



or this:




We're already very similar to the Eldar, both in 40k and IRL - minus psychic powers of course. With psychic powers comes an enhanced nervous system and the rest of the body will adapt to accommodate the increased reaction speed.

...
.....
..........
....................
............................................................................................


Point taken.

Ok, appearance wise, the two races would be completely different, but I was more going for the psychic aspect.
And tbh, would prefer the 3rd pic. No idea why. Maybe it's just because he's my favourite character in the whole of SC2...

 Mynameisalie wrote:
I did include the "without the furriness" bit, right?

They'd still look like cats.

Re-wrote that.

I agree with caveman, your race can't just be 'better than humans'. It needs some sort of weakness or something.

They do. The fact that they are very prone to daemonic possession if they (stupidly) remove their necklace. If it gets torn from them in close-combat, or knocked off in the heat of a battle, that's it. Their mind is gone in seconds. I thought psychic withdrawal sounded good as well. It allows them to be good psykers, but at a high cost, higher than normal ones. Not sure on what else to give them on drawbacks, but I had this odd idea a while back that some of them fail to master their power and revert to mindless beasts, much like the very ancient Lynx. I called them Psychopaths for some odd reason, but there you go.
Of course they're worse than Space Marines, I toned back the basic troop choice quite a lot, specifically the saves, strength and toughness. So fluff-wise, I agree they still need a lot of work, but in-game, they're not completely and utterly OP (like GK), but maybe just a tad better than SM? Or maybe their equals. Whilst the HQ units are very good, they cost a lot as well, so you can't have too many of them even in a decent sized game. So all-in-all, even though they still need a lot of fluff, I could probably play them without too much of a fuss.

 Mynameisalie wrote:
They do. The fact that they are very prone to daemonic possession if they (stupidly) remove their necklace. If it gets torn from them in close-combat, or knocked off in the heat of a battle, that's it. Their mind is gone in seconds. I thought psychic withdrawal sounded good as well. It allows them to be good psykers, but at a high cost, higher than normal ones. Not sure on what else to give them on drawbacks, but I had this odd idea a while back that some of them fail to master their power and revert to mindless beasts, much like the very ancient Lynx. I called them Psychopaths for some odd reason, but there you go.
Of course they're worse than Space Marines, I toned back the basic troop choice quite a lot, specifically the saves, strength and toughness. So fluff-wise, I agree they still need a lot of work, but in-game, they're not completely and utterly OP (like GK), but maybe just a tad better than SM? Or maybe their equals. Whilst the HQ units are very good, they cost a lot as well, so you can't have too many of them even in a decent sized game. So all-in-all, even though they still need a lot of fluff, I could probably play them without too much of a fuss.

If they are so fragile, they'd be physically worse than guard.

Also, with such physical draw backs, why do they even enter battle? I mean, they'd lose in seconds to a Tank battalion as they'd be thrown around by the blast, they're necklace would fall off and or shatter.

Also, the Eldar have Soul stones, which do the same thing, so again.

Stolen idea.

You sure? They're S3 and T3. It sounds about right for them. And considering the original had S4 T4 and 2 Wounds. So, the statline now is:
WS 4
BS 4
S 3
T 3
W 1
I 5
A 1
Ld 9/8 (compensating for their Perils of the Warp drawback)
Sv 5+/5++
I think that sounds about right for 14 or so points per model. Not as much strength or toughness as a Space Marine, but they have an invulnerable save as well, which they can only take if they're not allowed their armour. That way Lynx getting shot by a lasgun with 5+/4++ saves still has to roll his armour save.

 Mynameisalie wrote:
You sure? They're S3 and T3. It sounds about right for them. And considering the original had S4 T4 and 2 Wounds. So, the statline now is:
WS 4
BS 4
S 3
T 3
W 1
I 5
A 1
Ld 9/8 (compensating for their Perils of the Warp drawback)
Sv 5+/5++
I think that sounds about right for 14 or so points per model. Not as much strength or toughness as a Space Marine, but they have an invulnerable save as well, which they can only take if they're not allowed their armour. That way Lynx getting shot by a lasgun with 5+/4++ saves still has to roll his armour save.

Lower WS and I, it seems they'd be horrid in close combat due to the necklace (Eldar Soulstone) thing.

yeah, I see your point...
But they do receive close combat training, and that coupled with their survival instincts and claws would compensate. But WS 3 is acceptable. Maybe for 13 pts?

Here's what I did for the Lynx.

First, get rid of the soulstones. Too close to Eldar.

Now, they're built for hunting. They have paws with claws and cat faces. So, I'd give the average lynx WS5. But, they're built for speed, not endurance. They have hollow bones and very little fat. So I'd give the Lynx T2. Also, their paw claws make aiming a gun and manipulating machinery difficult. That means you give em BS2 or maybe BS3.

EDIT: Also, change your signature. Long text signatures are horrid.

 LoneLictor wrote:
Here's what I did for the Lynx.

First, get rid of the soulstones. Too close to Eldar.

Now, they're built for hunting. They have paws with claws and cat faces. So, I'd give the average lynx WS5. But, they're built for speed, not endurance. They have hollow bones and very little fat. So I'd give the Lynx T2. Also, their paw claws make aiming a gun and manipulating machinery difficult. That means you give em BS2 or maybe BS3.

EDIT: Also, change your signature. Long text signatures are horrid.

This seems logical.

 blood reaper wrote:

 LoneLictor wrote:
Here's what I did for the Lynx.

First, get rid of the soulstones. Too close to Eldar.

Now, they're built for hunting. They have paws with claws and cat faces. So, I'd give the average lynx WS5. But, they're built for speed, not endurance. They have hollow bones and very little fat. So I'd give the Lynx T2. Also, their paw claws make aiming a gun and manipulating machinery difficult. That means you give em BS2 or maybe BS3.

EDIT: Also, change your signature. Long text signatures are horrid.

This seems logical.

Unless you want them to physically fly don't have their bones be hollow.

I still imagine them to look and feel like this:



Perhaps your elites could be warrior mystics. Tribal elders so to speak.

That I'm quite reluctant about...
Argh, it's just me. Besides, they're really not fragile enough to be one-shotted by a bolter. SM would mow them down, and they're not a horde army. Just cause I HATE horde armies. They're too expensive money-wise, and are annoying due to the time it takes to build, paint and actually field one.
And they're not soulstones. Do you mean the entire crystal thing or just they necklaces? Cause that way I can just make them a different piece of jewellery. They're more of a mind-guard than something that captures their soul when they die.
Getting back onto stats. I nerfed them in WS because they have devolved from having to hack, slash and claw their way to their next meal, so the razor edge fighting instinct has dulled. But it's still there. As they aren't very good at manipulating complex machinery most of their technology is built around this handicap, so it gives them BS 4. Plus, they're good shots. What I stated earlier is much better than the original statline. Trust me, it makes me cringe when I see it:
WS 5
BS 5
S 4
T 4
W 2
I 5
A 2
Sv 4+/4++
And I still can't believe I actually thought that was a good idea.
And I'll change the sig.

 DemetriDominov wrote:

 blood reaper wrote:

 LoneLictor wrote:
Here's what I did for the Lynx.

First, get rid of the soulstones. Too close to Eldar.

Now, they're built for hunting. They have paws with claws and cat faces. So, I'd give the average lynx WS5. But, they're built for speed, not endurance. They have hollow bones and very little fat. So I'd give the Lynx T2. Also, their paw claws make aiming a gun and manipulating machinery difficult. That means you give em BS2 or maybe BS3.

EDIT: Also, change your signature. Long text signatures are horrid.

This seems logical.

Unless you want them to physically fly don't have their bones be hollow.

I still imagine them to look and feel like this:

Spoiler:

Perhaps your elites could be warrior mystics. Tribal elders so to speak.

Ooh, that's good. That's very good. Almost exactly what I imagined them like, just less muscle, and a tail thrown in. Nail pretty much bang on the head there.
Yes, the bones aren't hollow. They're instead filled with a more efficient bone marrow than a regular human has. This allows them to sustain harsher wounds that bleed a lot and survive just a little longer. It's nowhere near as effective as the Larraman's organ, but does a reasonable job at keeping a Lynx alive. Which is why it bumps up the Toughness to 3. I tried to make the statline first, then make fluff based on that statline.

The Necklace is an exact copy of the Soulstone.

Also, the entire idea just feels like Thundercats.

I can change it to a bracelet, or a small item of jewellery that is put on the end of the tail.

 Mynameisalie wrote:
I can change it to a bracelet, or a small item of jewellery that is put on the end of the tail.

Lets say a ring, like the Khorne one with spikes on the inside, so they dont lose it fast.
Also, how about a unit of half possesed Lynx?

Just drop the jewellery idea. It is far, far too close to Eldar. In aspect and function. Just drop it.

 liquidjoshi wrote:
Just drop the jewellery idea. It is far, far too close to Eldar. In aspect and function. Just drop it.

The entire scoiety is far too Exodite for my liking as well.

Indeed. Personally I'd give the whole army stealth (+1 to cover saves) and move through cover - it's easier to attribute their cat-like nature to something more catlike rather than making them all harder to kill than a tried and tested Ork going against a weapon that fires automatic mini RPG's. There's really no shame in being one shotted by a SM. Really. Seriously.

I agree with the advice: Drop the "soulstone" idea for two reasons

1. 40k already has them
2. It makes them look Mary Sue.

Either remove them, or replace with the grimdark:

Edited for grammar:

"The warrior mystic enclave that holds the secrets of the crystals draw supernatural strength and endurance from them. Only gifted to the most powerful clansmen, it marks them above all others and to challenge their authority is to invite the savage ferocity imbued within each, for the souls of ancestors long past are stored within, not protected, but imprisoned for all eternity to serve whomever holds the stone. It would be no surprise to learn that these stones harbor not just the souls of their own kin, but any who fall beneath their ever growing might."

Something along those lines. Did it in like 2 mins, i'll come back after class.

I think this came up in the first thread, the whole "Give them stealth, make them good in CC, glass hammer kind of army" idea, and he just flat out rejected it. A shame, because it's a good idea IMO.

Demetri: Doing fluff for other people's race like a boss.