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Hello Dakka Dakka! I come to you with a few questions to help me fine tune my chapter. My goal is to aim as close to the lore as I can because I don't want to be another special snowflake homebrew chapter. The canon has enough of those anyway.

I want to use the 30k Death Guard symbol as my chapter heraldry. I want to use decals as I am terrible at free hand and the pre heresy Death Guard symbol is pretty generic. Lorewise there is no hard connection between my Chapter and the traitor legion beyond oddly similar heraldry. Kind of like the Silver Skulls and how their symbol kind of looks like that of the Iron Warrios. My question is would that get them into deep trouble with the greater Imperium or would it just result in the Inquisition keeping a close eye on them? If it helps, the color scheme is blue with bone pauldrons.

Are there examples of Astartes chapters being religious and having good relations with the Ecclesiarchy? I know it's theoretically possible but I just want to know if it's common.

Where do new chapters get relics from? Their parent chapters? Would these relics still retain the heraldry of their progenitors?

Using the symbol of a traitor legion would be a big no no I think. Its like putting a Nazi Swastika on your car. It wont go over well with anyone who knows what that symbol means. Sure not many in the Imperium would know what it means, but those that do are very powerful and dangerous people.

Hmm Chapters that are deeply religious... Hmm I dont know maybe the.. Black Templars!? They are a pretty iconic chapter and are known for being insanely religious and worship the Emperor as a divine God. As such they are tight with the ecclesiarchy. I think the Blood Ravens addressed the Emperor as being a God as well in one of the Dawn of war games, but I could be wrong.

When it comes to relics I would say it would vary depending on the circumstance. Perhaps their parent chapter gifted them a relic. Perhaps over their history they "made" a relic all of their own or discovered one.

I would assume sense they are relics and as such are viewed with great respect that they would not be altered thus they would retain their original heraldry. I could be wrong on that, but really I think you could get away with a lot.

Lorewise the symbol should be fine. Very few in the Imperium know much at all about what happened 10.000 years ago so the symbol being similar should easily fly under the radar, unless some Inquisitor with forbidden knowledge happens to investigate. Could give you a lore reason to fight other Imperial armies in any case.

Concerning ties with the ecclisiarchy:
The Black templars are known for sharing the ecclisiarchies belief in regards to the Emperor being a god. Other then that the first example that springs to mind is the ultramarines. It's rarely mentioned but Guillimans shrine is actually a Ecclisiarchy holy site and great pilgrimages by commoners are financed partially by the Ultramarines for public viewings.
Astartes and the ecclisiarchy have a generally quite strained relationship since their fundamental beliefs are diffrent. The Astartes are blood related to the Emperor so they usually worship him as a mortal hero rather then a god, but I can definetly see an exception or two of chapters following the ecclisiarchy teachings.

Relics:
Chapter relics is a bit of a problem for new chapters. Terminator armour, dreadnoughts and holy wargear are all the results of centuries of service. To quote 4th ed they take "rare artificial skill and might take centuries for new founded chapters to aqcuire such reasources". Many old relics do not date that far back (everyone usually just thinks HH when they hear the term) but are actually the gear of recent heroes, like old chapter masters and such. As for a new founded chapter I think I read somewhere that it's common for them to recieve gifts from their astartes bretheren, both parent and sibbling chapters. Those with Deathwatch members might get access to some Inquisitorial stuff.

Edit: Religion in Space marine chapters:
This was first published in 3ed SM codex: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Daily_rituals_of_a_Space_Marine
It's the Daily schedule of a Space marine according to the codex astartes. If you look at the ammount of time spent praying you can probably figure out the how fanatically religious Space marines are. Even if their beliefs differ from that of the ecclisiarchy.

Hope that helps. I researched this stuff way back when I wrote the lore for my own homebrewed chapter.

I want to use the 30k Death Guard symbol as my chapter heraldry.

Using the symbol of a traitor legion would be a big no no I think.

You mean like the Sons of Medusa? They're already using it.
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Sons_of_Medusa

Kind of like the Silver Skulls and how their symbol kind of looks like that of the Iron Warrios.

In fairness, whilst there are other examples (like the Hawk Lords), I'm pretty sure that one specifically ain't a coincidence.
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Barabas_Dantioch

My question is would that get them into deep trouble with the greater Imperium or would it just result in the Inquisition keeping a close eye on them? If it helps, the color scheme is blue with bone pauldrons.

I don't think so. After all, the Death Guard's emblem is, fundamentally, the Iron Halo. And anyway, the Inquisition keeps a close eye on everyone. Three, on navigator houses.

Are there examples of Astartes chapters being religious and having good relations with the Ecclesiarchy? I know it's theoretically possible but I just want to know if it's common.

Yes. Well - no, but it's common enough that you don't need to specifically justify it. There are cases where chapters have swallowed the Ecclesiarchy version of the Imperial Cult whole, rather than maintained a Chapter Cult. The Black Templars are the obvious (and famous) ones, but the Fire Angels are another.
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Angels
They are a relatively new-founded chapter, and lack a close link to a genetic parent, so picking up the Ecclesiarchy's faith was a natural thing to do.

They're a good example of what a newly-minted chapter is like - note the reliance on rhino-chassis tanks rather than land raiders, and the relative rarity of dreadnought suits and terminator plate.

Where do new chapters get relics from? Their parent chapters? Would these relics still retain the heraldry of their progenitors?

Depends how close a relationship they have. Some founded chapters are essentially 'cuttings' of an extent chapter, and can expect a 'gift' of relics - these relics retaining heraldry of old chapters (or at least sharing the heraldry of both) is quite likely - after all, their history is important.

Whereas a lot of it might be newly made - new-built land raiders and terminator plate is rare, but it is still made, and a newly-established chapter with the favour of the high lords would get at least a tolerable place in the queue (although good relations with the Ecclesiarchy tends to mean equivalently bad relations with the Mechanicus, so take with a pinch of salt).

locarno24 wrote:
Whereas a lot of it might be newly made - new-built land raiders and terminator plate is rare, but it is still made, and a newly-established chapter with the favour of the high lords would get at least a tolerable place in the queue (although good relations with the Ecclesiarchy tends to mean equivalently bad relations with the Mechanicus, so take with a pinch of salt).

On the other hand, good relations with the Ecclesiarchy means lots of cold hard cash backing you. Whichever Forgeworld (Mars?) that produces the Sororitas pattern power armor, bolter and Rhino-based vehicles is more than happy to get paid (extremely well) for their service.

Spending some cash on procuring battlegear for a Space Marine Chapter would be a significant investment but well worth it in some situations. A force of superhuman soldiers that can react swiftly and aren't as obviously Ecclesiarchy as sending a force of SoB? Deniability!

Huh, links to the Ecclesiarchy have been done before, just like links to the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Why not have a Chapter with close links to Adeptus Administratum? They might not be the most fanatical or the most technologically adept but by golly they keep on top of the paperwork!

 Aben Zin wrote:
Huh, links to the Ecclesiarchy have been done before, just like links to the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Why not have a Chapter with close links to Adeptus Administratum? They might not be the most fanatical or the most technologically adept but by golly they keep on top of the paperwork!

With grey uniforms, neckties, coffee mugs...

The Accountants...

Worse. The Auditors.

Or, given that the Administratum's most likely need for a 'heavy mob' is when someone's playing silly buggers with the Tithe, the Bailiffs....




On a more serious note, a chapter with close ties to the Arbites might be an interesting one.
I could see that making for a very interesting history; after all, astartes do have a history as planetary overlords, so their paths must cross. And it's not impossible that their chapter cult might have decided to fixate on The Law as their specific object of devotion. Detaching squads to Arbites Precincts in their area of operations as some serious-level SWAT, and librarius conclaves acting as both psychic interrogators and judgement-of-solomon councils of centuries-old advisors to marshalls..... I could see it working as a background.

locarno24 wrote:
Worse. The Auditors.

Or, given that the Administratum's most likely need for a 'heavy mob' is when someone's playing silly buggers with the Tithe, the Bailiffs....

That's actually a very good idea. And it's not like the Administratum can't do anything to reward a Chapter for services rendered - they do handle the paperwork after all.

Manufacturing world Sloth VII getting behind on agrivehicle production? The Chapter Master of the Celestial Auditors turns up in his battle barge (The Tax Enforcer) and asks the governor to shape up or get replaced. After production speeds up the Administratum siphons off some resources for the marines - and ofc whatever the Chapter Fleet requisitions from Imperial Navy bases is always approved and filed in short order.

To be fair, it's not exactly a new concept - the Imperium has Titan Legions dedicated to pretty much this exact job, thinking about it:

Divisio Mandati

The Titan Legions of the Divisio Mandati are known as "Executive Orders." They travel in vast temple-spacecraft, responsible for bringing the Pax Imperia to isolated worlds of the Imperium. Each temple ship carries between two and five of the immense Emperor Battle Titans, as well as Tech-priests, Mechanicus regular troops, maintenance Adepts and support personnel.

Each Emperor Titan in the Divisio is its own self-contained unit, carrying members of the Adeptus Arbites, the Inquisition and the other Adepta of the Adeptus Terra. With an Emperor Titan as their platform, servants of the Imperium can be very persuasive, and if that fails, they possess more than enough firepower to get their point across. It is through this combination of persuasion and potent threat that the Pax Imperia is brought to many worlds.

Some of the Executive Orders never leave the boundaries of Imperial space, confined to the dioceses left to their care. The elite of the Divisio Mandati's Titan Legions are known as "Missionary Orders" -- they travel beyond the borders of the Imperium, often accompanying Rogue Traders in discovering new worlds and regions of space to be settled and exploited by Mankind.

 Aben Zin wrote:
Huh, links to the Ecclesiarchy have been done before, just like links to the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Why not have a Chapter with close links to Adeptus Administratum? They might not be the most fanatical or the most technologically adept but by golly they keep on top of the paperwork!

They shall be my finest paper pushers, these men who give themselves to me. Like a pencil I will sharpen them and in the cubicle forge them. They will be of iron discipline and steely writing hands. In great desks will I seat them and with the mightiest pens will they be armed. They will be untouched by typos, no misfiles will blight them. They will have files, cabinets and chairs so that no red tape can best them in the office. They are my bulwark against clerical errors. They are the defenders of paperwork. They are my space marines and they shall know no missed deadlines.

-The Emperor of Mankind upon the founding of the 2nd Legion, the Celestial Auditors.

But all in seriousness, thanks for the help! I'll be sure to restrict my vehicle pool to more common tanks as befitting a newer chapter.