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Cypherus here

I'm in the process of making my own SM chapter ( the Brotherhood ) and I was planning on using the blood angels codex but I started thinking about what I could do if I made my own codex

Even if I make my own codex there will be units like the death company (only under a different name ) in there so I ask.

Should I make my own codex and if so how should I go by doing that. I would love your opinions on the matter

Well you'll likely not be able to use it outside of games with friends...

I know. I would probably play more with friends then against strangers or in tornments, but in those cases I would use the blood angels codex.

As said above for friendly play it shouldnt be a problem just dont make em too op and no one will mind.

For tournies or games in gw stores I would say go with an existing codex.

Writing your own codex is a really cool and creative thing to do. How ever its not as easy as it sounds I have seen some terrible ones so just be careful and think things through when you write yours.

I intend to be careful, try to keep it fair and not over powered

Are you a professional game designer with years of 40k experience, a solid understanding of both core game mechanics and balance in 40k, and a clear concept and purpose for your design, beyond "I want to make my own codex"?

Do you enjoy wasting time writing stuff that nobody will let you use?

If you can't answer "yes" to at least one of those questions, don't bother writing your own codex and just use the standard one. Your chances of writing a legitimate balanced and interesting alternative codex instead of just "my fanboy marine chapter" are pretty much nonexistent, so save your effort.

Thats a bit cruel and you haven't seen my work so you can't judge my future efforts. I wouldn't cross the line between fair and insane if I could help it

 TheCaptain wrote:
Well you'll likely not be able to use it outside of games with friends...

Or even in games with friends. The couple of times that I've been presented with a homebrew codex, I was distinctly unimpressed, and not all that inclined to play against it, although one of those had the big warning sign of the first page being for the chapter's primarch, with three pages of special rules.

Peregrine is sadly right.

He cant judge your work so far but with 6th just out not everyone is well versed with the core rules.

The things that make a fandex interesting is that they are different from the gw ones which means you have to make rules for them which are reflected in points cost and isnt op with other unit oor special rule combos.
The trick is the sweet spot but ya if your up for a challenge then good luck.

Cypherus wrote:
Thats a bit cruel and you haven't seen my work so you can't judge my future efforts. I wouldn't cross the line between fair and insane if I could help it

The vast majority of fan codices are awful. Sorry to deflate your dreams, but that's just how it is. Your chances of being the rare exception are extremely small, and effectively nonexistent if you don't have extensive experience with game design already.

And given that you're starting from a premise of "I want to make my own codex", not "I have this awesome idea that can't be represented with any official codex, how can I make it work", you don't have the kind of clear concept in mind that could make a fan codex work. Without that concept your codex, even in the unlikely event that it is flawlessly balanced, is a solution in need of a problem.

I would not recommend it. The more custom rules you use, the less actual 40k you are playing.

This will skew your understanding of the game.

I'd advise against making your own rules for a Space Marine Chapter simply because of the sheer variety of Space Marine rules that already exist; aside from that, building Codexes and playtesting them against existing armies is a decent way to get an understanding of the rules if you already know a lot about what you're doing. If you're an inexperienced player hold off on house rules for a while, they come out pretty bizarrely unbalanced if you don't have a pretty good understanding of game balance.