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What if they just hide the fact that they are allied with the tau? Dark Angles hide the whole fallen thing ( last I checked)
I scraped the whole idea with tau geneseed. The inject themselves with blue coloring to show tau sympathy.
Which undoubtably makes it harder to hide the whole tau part
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/29 14:33:29
To be fair, it looks like the OP is trying to create Space Marines who are actually humane and good.
If that's the goal you can already get it from existing big-name chapters. The Salamanders are well known to be humane toward normal humans. The Ultramarines rule their Realm of Ultramar with an enlightened and benevolent hand. Heck, the Space Wolves openly fought the inquisition to save Imperial Guard regiments from liquidation after 1st Armageddon.
The Tau are certainly not pure in their humane-ness either. They are expansionists, perfectly willing to invade and conquer by force when they can't get what they want through diplomacy and subversion. They've committed their share of atrocities as well; according to Dawn of War I if they win one of the multi faction campaigns they sterilize the conquered human populace. It's not Exterminatus, but it's pretty fething genocidal.
I have to agree that,even assuming someone could forcibly splice human and Tau DNA to create a viable hybrid they wouldn't bother. As others have pointed out, a natural human/Tau hybrid is virtually impossible given that the two species evolved from utterly unrelated stock on different planets. Humans share over 95% of our DNA with chimps, but we can't interbreed; how much harder for pinkie 'unisex and fish'eads to procreate? Usually when closely related species do interbreed and produce live offspring they are sterile. Witness horse/donkey hybrids, aka mules.
Even assuming genetic science could crossbreed the species and produce fertile offspring they probably wouldn't bother. Tau are smaller, weaker and shorter-lived than humans, with no psychic potential. They are not demonstrably more intelligent or more agile than humans. Essentially Tau stock is measurably inferior to human. There is no reason to believe that even the most radical Heretek Genetors of the Mechanicum would attempt it for any reason beyond idle curiosity.
That said, if you want to run blue-skinned Space Marines, or even blue-skinned noseless Marines with cloven hooves, go for it. It's a big galaxy. Work hard enough to come up with believe able fluff and anything is possible. I would suggest that if you really like this fluff that you should consider making the chapter a Tau experiment to create a counter to Space Marines rather than a natural or human project. Of course in that case the Taumarines would probably use Tau equipment and tactics rather than classic Space Marine ones, the better to mesh with the Greater Good.
If you're concerned about sticking to canon fluff and insist on keeping these guys human-centric they would have to be Excommunicate Traitoris, and probably Xeno Horribilis that are hunted ruthlessly by the Inquisition.
Warboss Gorhack wrote: To be fair, it looks like the OP is trying to create Space Marines who are actually humane and good.
If that's the goal you can already get it from existing big-name chapters. The Salamanders are well known to be humane toward normal humans. The Ultramarines rule their Realm of Ultramar with an enlightened and benevolent hand. Heck, the Space Wolves openly fought the inquisition to save Imperial Guard regiments from liquidation after 1st Armageddon.
The Tau are certainly not pure in their humane-ness either. They are expansionists, perfectly willing to invade and conquer by force when they can't get what they want through diplomacy and subversion. They've committed their share of atrocities as well; according to Dawn of War I if they win one of the multi faction campaigns they sterilize the conquered human populace. It's not Exterminatus, but it's pretty fething genocidal.
I have to agree that,even assuming someone could forcibly splice human and Tau DNA to create a viable hybrid they wouldn't bother. As others have pointed out, a natural human/Tau hybrid is virtually impossible given that the two species evolved from utterly unrelated stock on different planets. Humans share over 95% of our DNA with chimps, but we can't interbreed; how much harder for pinkie 'unisex and fish'eads to procreate? Usually when closely related species do interbreed and produce live offspring they are sterile. Witness horse/donkey hybrids, aka mules.
Even assuming genetic science could crossbreed the species and produce fertile offspring they probably wouldn't bother. Tau are smaller, weaker and shorter-lived than humans, with no psychic potential. They are not demonstrably more intelligent or more agile than humans. Essentially Tau stock is measurably inferior to human. There is no reason to believe that even the most radical Heretek Genetors of the Mechanicum would attempt it for any reason beyond idle curiosity.
That said, if you want to run blue-skinned Space Marines, or even blue-skinned noseless Marines with cloven hooves, go for it. It's a big galaxy. Work hard enough to come up with believe able fluff and anything is possible. I would suggest that if you really like this fluff that you should consider making the chapter a Tau experiment to create a counter to Space Marines rather than a natural or human project. Of course in that case the Taumarines would probably use Tau equipment and tactics rather than classic Space Marine ones, the better to mesh with the Greater Good.
If you're concerned about sticking to canon fluff and insist on keeping these guys human-centric they would have to be Excommunicate Traitoris, and probably Xeno Horribilis that are hunted ruthlessly by the Inquisition.
My two cents.
Agreed completely.
Humane Chapters do exist, and can be easily done with little internet hate. Are Tau essential to the mix?
Otherwise, I'd make sure the Chapter only use Tau allies and no Imperial ones or psykers to represent the army, or as suggested, use Battlesuits to represent upgraded power armour. Farsight Enclaves?
Selym wrote: I'm afraid, this Death Star is fully operational!
*places Gravstar on the table*
*laughs maniacally*
Its over 9,000!
Space Marines: Jacks of all trades yet masters of GRAV CANNONS!!!.
My Star Wars Imperial Codex Project: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/641831.page It has 7 HQs, 2 Troop types with Dedicated Transports, 5 Elite units, 5 Fast Attack units, 6 Heavy Support units, 2 Formations with unique units not in the rest of the codex, and 2 LOW choices.
‘I do not care who knows the truth now, tomorrow, or in ten thousand years. Loyalty is its own reward.’ -Lion El' Jonson
Someone called us and said there was an all you can eat buffet? The swarm will eat well.
Anyhow, please revise fully. The general rule of thumb in homebrews is take 1 special thing, remove 2 advantages. Also, not grim dark enough, and slightly too much Mary Sue detected.
"There is a cancer eating at the Imperium. With each decade it advances deeper, leaving drained, dead worlds in its wake. This horror, this abomination, has thought and purpose that functions on an unimaginable, galactic scale and all we can do is try to stop the swarms of bioengineered monsters it unleashes upon us by instinct. We have given the horror a name to salve our fears; we call it the Tyranid race, but if is aware of us at all it must know us only as Prey."
Hive Fleet Grootslang 15000+
Servants of the Void 2000+
I like the creativity but I find the bit about the Inquisition involvement to be the biggest stretch. Really in general as others have said I think any Imperial scientist who tried something like this would be seen as a renegade heretic to be exterminated with extreme prejudice.
That said, I know you've gotten a lot of ideas already but here's a few more:
-If you are really stuck on the idea of these guys being imperial engineered humans with Tau genes that give them blue skin as I said before the scientist doing it would have to be operating in a secret haunted castle away from Inquisition eyes but I do have a motive for the experiment... The scientist wants to make marines that are immune to warp/chaos. Tau have zero psykers and warp signature. I've even heard fan theories that the Ethereals and greater good were secretly engineered by the Eldar following the falling or by the [HERESY *BLAM!*] during the crusades as a contingency plan should humanity all fall to chaos. So maybe this crazy scientist has seen one too many marines turn heretic and has decided to make marines that are incapable of being touched by chaos thanks to Tau genes.
-You could also have them be a renegade lawful good SM chapter that ran afoul of the Inquisition (think Soul Drinkers minus being dupped by Tzeentch) and end up teaming up with Tau thanks to contact with Guevesa guard in Tau space. This doesn't give you blue skin but maybe... MAYBE... the Ethereals let your guys recruit a few firecaste members into your chapter and you can have Tau marines or even Tau/Human hybrids; I could careless about the alien interbreeding as I'm a Trek fan and it seems to piss imperial scum off That said it's a big stretch as the Ethereals are notoriously dickish scum bags when it comes to social engineering and who's allowed to breed with who. *Light bulb* have them ally not with Tau Empire but with Farsight... He probably doesn't give a gak about Tau becoming space marines (he lets earth caste pilot crisis suits after all) and would likely take any help he can get against the orcs, chaos and inevitable civil war with the Tau Empire.
-Edit: You could also combine both of these really. Let's face it; those blue skinned marines in the first scenario are going to be labeled heretics and scheduled for extermination as soon as the inquisition hears about them. They then flee and end up hooking up with Farsight.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/08/05 15:01:49
Shas'Nel Tau wrote: I like the creativity but I find the bit about the Inquisition involvement to be the biggest stretch. Really in general as others have said I think any Imperial scientist who tried something like this would be seen as a renegade heretic to be exterminated with extreme prejudice.
That said, I know you've gotten a lot of ideas already but here's a few more:
-If you are really stuck on the idea of these guys being imperial engineered humans with Tau genes that give them blue skin as I said before the scientist doing it would have to be operating in a secret haunted castle away from Inquisition eyes but I do have a motive for the experiment... The scientist wants to make marines that are immune to warp/chaos. Tau have zero psykers and warp signature. I've even heard fan theories that the Ethereals and greater good were secretly engineered by the Eldar following the falling or by the [HERESY *BLAM!*] during the crusades as a contingency plan should humanity all fall to chaos. So maybe this crazy scientist has seen one too many marines turn heretic and has decided to make marines that are incapable of being touched by chaos thanks to Tau genes.
-You could also have them be a renegade lawful good SM chapter that ran afoul of the Inquisition (think Soul Drinkers minus being dupped by Tzeentch) and end up teaming up with Tau thanks to contact with Guevesa guard in Tau space. This doesn't give you blue skin but maybe... MAYBE... the Ethereals let your guys recruit a few firecaste members into your chapter and you can have Tau marines or even Tau/Human hybrids; I could careless about the alien interbreeding as I'm a Trek fan and it seems to piss imperial scum off That said it's a big stretch as the Ethereals are notoriously dickish scum bags when it comes to social engineering and who's allowed to breed with who. *Light bulb* have them ally not with Tau Empire but with Farsight... He probably doesn't give a gak about Tau becoming space marines (he lets earth caste pilot crisis suits after all) and would likely take any help he can get against the orcs, chaos and inevitable civil war with the Tau Empire.
-Edit: You could also combine both of these really. Let's face it; those blue skinned marines in the first scenario are going to be labeled heretics and scheduled for extermination as soon as the inquisition hears about them. They then flee and end up hooking up with Farsight.
This, pretty much. Tau Marines has the possibility to make really good fanon, but the way the OP handled it doesn't really work well. Like, at all.
To quote a fictional character... "Let's make this fun!"
Tactical_Spam wrote: There was a story in the SM omnibus where a single kroot killed 2-3 marines then ate their gene seed and became a Kroot-startes.
Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
To quote a fictional character... "Let's make this fun!"
Tactical_Spam wrote: There was a story in the SM omnibus where a single kroot killed 2-3 marines then ate their gene seed and became a Kroot-startes.
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
Except they show up perfectly fine in the warp, their souls are merely small and weak.
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
Except they show up perfectly fine in the warp, their souls are merely small and weak.
And they would therefore have no value for a Daemon if virtually any other species was available to screw with, considering the fact that the Tau would only be able to provide minimal power to the Gods of Chaos.
Also, I didn't know that. I thought they were like the Necrontyr. My bad.
To quote a fictional character... "Let's make this fun!"
Tactical_Spam wrote: There was a story in the SM omnibus where a single kroot killed 2-3 marines then ate their gene seed and became a Kroot-startes.
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
Except they show up perfectly fine in the warp, their souls are merely small and weak.
And they would therefore have no value for a Daemon if virtually any other species was available to screw with, considering the fact that the Tau would only be able to provide minimal power to the Gods of Chaos.
Also, I didn't know that. I thought they were like the Necrontyr. My bad.
Yeah there's actually some conflicting stuff throughout the history of the Tau fluff regarding chaos and the warp but after reading up on it all afternoon it seems the most common belief is that they have incredibly small warp signature (some do say they have none at all) and are therefore uninteresting to daemons and the chaos Gods. Not quite my rock analogy from early... Maybe more like a stale crumb of bread with mold... Unless you were starving you'd have no reason to consider it and given all the humans and eldar in the galaxy daemons don't really care for Tau. There's also the old theory that Tau were engineered by the Eldar to be at the very least chaos resistant (if not immune as I had previously thought we were). How not having an afterlife makes them inferior to worshippers of the desecrated corpse of the finest example of your species? Not so sure about that one.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/08/06 01:49:22
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
Except they show up perfectly fine in the warp, their souls are merely small and weak.
And they would therefore have no value for a Daemon if virtually any other species was available to screw with, considering the fact that the Tau would only be able to provide minimal power to the Gods of Chaos.
Also, I didn't know that. I thought they were like the Necrontyr. My bad.
Yeah there's actually some conflicting stuff throughout the history of the Tau fluff regarding chaos and the warp but after reading up on it all afternoon it seems the most common belief is that they have incredibly small warp signature (some do say they have none at all) and are therefore uninteresting to daemons and the chaos Gods. Not quite my rock analogy from early... Maybe more like a stale crumb of bread with mold... Unless you were starving you'd have no reason to consider it and given all the humans and eldar in the galaxy daemons don't really care for Tau. There's also the old theory that Tau were engineered by the Eldar to be at the very least chaos resistant (if not immune as I had previously thought we were). How not having an afterlife makes them inferior to worshippers of the desecrated corpse of the finest example of your species? Not so sure about that one.
When a being dies, its soul basically drifts away in the Warp. These souls then become drawn together and form gestalt beings, which are what the Chaos Gods used to be. If it was a very hateful or warlike being, then it would feed Khorne, but, if its belief in the Emperor dominated it, it would feed the Emperor (mostly, some of its energies would drift off and feed other Warp beings). In this manner, a soul lives on after death. However, different dimensions can be prepared (within the Warp) to house these souls, and prevent them from feeding Gods. Things like heaven or hell, valhalla, Sovngarde, etc.
To quote a fictional character... "Let's make this fun!"
Tactical_Spam wrote: There was a story in the SM omnibus where a single kroot killed 2-3 marines then ate their gene seed and became a Kroot-startes.
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
Except they show up perfectly fine in the warp, their souls are merely small and weak.
And they would therefore have no value for a Daemon if virtually any other species was available to screw with, considering the fact that the Tau would only be able to provide minimal power to the Gods of Chaos.
Also, I didn't know that. I thought they were like the Necrontyr. My bad.
Yeah there's actually some conflicting stuff throughout the history of the Tau fluff regarding chaos and the warp but after reading up on it all afternoon it seems the most common belief is that they have incredibly small warp signature (some do say they have none at all) and are therefore uninteresting to daemons and the chaos Gods. Not quite my rock analogy from early... Maybe more like a stale crumb of bread with mold... Unless you were starving you'd have no reason to consider it and given all the humans and eldar in the galaxy daemons don't really care for Tau. There's also the old theory that Tau were engineered by the Eldar to be at the very least chaos resistant (if not immune as I had previously thought we were). How not having an afterlife makes them inferior to worshippers of the desecrated corpse of the finest example of your species? Not so sure about that one.
When a being dies, its soul basically drifts away in the Warp. These souls then become drawn together and form gestalt beings, which are what the Chaos Gods used to be. If it was a very hateful or warlike being, then it would feed Khorne, but, if its belief in the Emperor dominated it, it would feed the Emperor (mostly, some of its energies would drift off and feed other Warp beings). In this manner, a soul lives on after death. However, different dimensions can be prepared (within the Warp) to house these souls, and prevent them from feeding Gods. Things like heaven or hell, valhalla, Sovngarde, etc.
Again... I prefer the Jewish/Tau take, do good in this life and if there's something after it you're good, if not you're fine as well... the way I see it, either way when Tau die they don't feed Chaos. Additionally wasn't the Emperor, when he was alive, hardcore secular if not, dare I say, an atheist? You're welcome to buy into whatever fluff propaganda you like (I'm certainly quick to defend the Greater Good ) but the bit of fluff I do know makes a pretty strong case for the modern Imperium doing the Emperor the way East Asia does Buddha... i.e. totally against absolutely everything he stood for.
Anyways, this is getting waaaayyy OT; whether having souls that join the warp in death makes you superior or inferior I think it is reasonable that at least one whacky human scientist could think it would be beneficial for a group of Space Marines to be not only resistant to Chaos corruption but also having no chance of adding to that Chaos gestalt in the afterlife. He then could say, "maybe I could accomplish that by inserting some Tau DNA into my test tube babies" and voila... the OPs desired blueskin quasi Tau marines.
Wyzilla wrote: Tau aren't immune to the warp, and you couldn't reduce a human soul by splicing Tau genomes lol. The Tau remain unmolested by the warp because of their own irrelevance and small souls- and it only works so long as they remain boring and irrelevant. Once they come to the attention of Daemons as either an annoyance or something to toy with- suddenly possessions everywhere.
So I'm newish to 40k and play Tau so forgive me if I've misunderstood the workings of the warp. Anyways, my understanding has been that Tau have no known psykers (yes, there are theories about Ethereals abilities being psychic but the more arguably more credible lean toward pheromone control) and do not/barely register in the warp. What souls have to do with the warp I have no idea (again, not really mention in Tau or fantasy fluff that I'm most familiar with) as my understanding was that it was a biological psychic ability that linked individuals to the warp and made them enticing to daemons. I read somewhere online that daemons and the chaos gods have about as much interest in Tau as you would in eating a rock. Even if you are starving you cannot consume a rock. Without even latent psychic ability Tau are of no interest to daemons. This was all in the context of the one chaos Tau on record (guy from the Firewarrior video game) where they said he was more just a power hungry dick that made a deal with chaos for his own benefit but was not actually "tainted" as without a connection (or "more substantial presence" if you prefer) to the warp he could not be.
So back to my idea... Given that you could engineer humans spliced with certain Tau genes to not have the biological ability to be psychic (like giving a mouse a jelly fish gene to glow in the dark or a human gene to grow an ear on its back), they, like the Tau, would be as appetizing as a rock to the chaos gods and there fore of theoretical use to the Imperium.
The Tau in Firewarrior was explicitly tainted considering he was screaming BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD in the end, and no, psychic powers mean nothing. You don't need to be a psyker for Daemons to screw with you, you just need a soul. The only things that lack souls are Necrons thanks to them purging all warp-related connections when they cut their deal with the C'tan.
The soul is the reflection of the physical being in the Warp. If the Tau don't show up in the Warp, then that means that they don't have souls, and therefore there is not afterlife for Tau, and that's just another reason that humans are better than Tau.
Except they show up perfectly fine in the warp, their souls are merely small and weak.
And they would therefore have no value for a Daemon if virtually any other species was available to screw with, considering the fact that the Tau would only be able to provide minimal power to the Gods of Chaos.
Also, I didn't know that. I thought they were like the Necrontyr. My bad.
Yeah there's actually some conflicting stuff throughout the history of the Tau fluff regarding chaos and the warp but after reading up on it all afternoon it seems the most common belief is that they have incredibly small warp signature (some do say they have none at all) and are therefore uninteresting to daemons and the chaos Gods. Not quite my rock analogy from early... Maybe more like a stale crumb of bread with mold... Unless you were starving you'd have no reason to consider it and given all the humans and eldar in the galaxy daemons don't really care for Tau. There's also the old theory that Tau were engineered by the Eldar to be at the very least chaos resistant (if not immune as I had previously thought we were). How not having an afterlife makes them inferior to worshippers of the desecrated corpse of the finest example of your species? Not so sure about that one.
When a being dies, its soul basically drifts away in the Warp. These souls then become drawn together and form gestalt beings, which are what the Chaos Gods used to be. If it was a very hateful or warlike being, then it would feed Khorne, but, if its belief in the Emperor dominated it, it would feed the Emperor (mostly, some of its energies would drift off and feed other Warp beings). In this manner, a soul lives on after death. However, different dimensions can be prepared (within the Warp) to house these souls, and prevent them from feeding Gods. Things like heaven or hell, valhalla, Sovngarde, etc.
Again... I prefer the Jewish/Tau take, do good in this life and if there's something after it you're good, if not you're fine as well... the way I see it, either way when Tau die they don't feed Chaos. Additionally wasn't the Emperor, when he was alive, hardcore secular if not, dare I say, an atheist? You're welcome to buy into whatever fluff propaganda you like (I'm certainly quick to defend the Greater Good ) but the bit of fluff I do know makes a pretty strong case for the modern Imperium doing the Emperor the way East Asia does Buddha... i.e. totally against absolutely everything he stood for.
Anyways, this is getting waaaayyy OT; whether having souls that join the warp in death makes you superior or inferior I think it is reasonable that at least one whacky human scientist could think it would be beneficial for a group of Space Marines to be not only resistant to Chaos corruption but also having no chance of adding to that Chaos gestalt in the afterlife. He then could say, "maybe I could accomplish that by inserting some Tau DNA into my test tube babies" and voila... the OPs desired blueskin quasi Tau marines.
Actually, the Emperor was only suppressing cults and religions that didn't worship him or were hindering the Great Crusade. He did little to nothing to suppress his worship on Terra (see: the Last Church). And, in First Heretic, his actions to destroy Lorgar's Emperor-worship seem specifically calculated to alienate Lorgar and cause him to turn to the Gods of Chaos, which could, quite possibly, lead to him Ascending, as he did.
Anyways, this is getting OT, you're right.
To quote a fictional character... "Let's make this fun!"
Tactical_Spam wrote: There was a story in the SM omnibus where a single kroot killed 2-3 marines then ate their gene seed and became a Kroot-startes.
Fer da Emprah! 
Hive Fleet Grootslang 
<Dynasty> 
War Coven of the Coruscating Gaze 
~3000pts
Thrice-Damned Plague Corps 
~3250pts
Admech (TBN) 
) but the bit of fluff I do know makes a pretty strong case for the modern Imperium doing the Emperor the way East Asia does Buddha... i.e. totally against absolutely everything he stood for.