Tales of the Space Marines

You are a Space Marine, named because of an ancient trademark dispute that only ended when the XIVth Void Commando Group said fuck the law not with words but with relativistic kinetic weapons. Also, because Space Naval Infantry is nowhere near as catchy. The Space Marines are the vanguard of an aggressively hegemonizing starfaring civilization. Upon encountering a new world, you strap into a four ton combination of vacuum suit, combat armour, and recreational tank. You use a range of improbably large weapons designed to make other living beings die messily and to make a range of toasted bread products to keep your morale high. You attempt genocide of the natives until they capitulate to your civilizations rules This is not a game about ultraviolent imperialsm. This is a game about being an ultraviolent imperialist.

Character Creation
Note down your Rank (it doesnt matter) and Surname (your choice) on a piece of paper and an index card, then answer the following questions (key points in bold): The recruiting posters only display white or acceptably-black male Space Marines. Do they
accurately reect you, or do you feel sick and betrayed every time you see them?

If you want to describe your Space Marines armour and weapons of choice, reect on what
that says about your inherent glorication of military culture and acceptance of violence in

Make a note of the one thing you want to achieve to make yourself feel good. It should be something you can do on a spaceship roughly the size of Wales with a large population of non-Space Marines. If this thing relates to ghting or violence, the player should take the time to re-read this document so far, looking for traces of irony, sarcasm, and cynicism within the text. If they still cannot see anything wrong with a violent goal, the player should consider ways outside Sample Goals
of the game to handle their anger management issues,

the pursuit of hegemonic expansion. Choose a number between 20-80. If youre old-school, roll 1d6x10+1d10. This is how many peoplethinking, feeling, beingsyou murdered in your last battle. It is displayed on a large scoreboard as you return to your ship. Is a high number good, or does it show incipient psychopathy? Is a low number a sign of mercy, or of inherent cowardice? Do you worry about callously snufng out lives with a ridiculous phallic symbol, or are you simple-minded enough to take refuge in saying This is war? Compare your score to that of the other characters. Consider what their scores tell you
about them.

and should pick from the list of sample goals. Standing in your way is the fact that youre a genetically engineered killing machine with no skills other than those required to make deadly things go through soft things that scream and bleed. With this perspective in mind, create a number of obstacles between you and your goal equal to the number of other players. Take a number of 10-sided Violence Dice (dV) equal to the tens digit of your kills. Take one ten-sided Humanity Die (dH) of another colour.

Grow a garden of beautiful owers Cook a meal for the rest of your squad Successfully look after a pet Create a painting or sculpture Go on a date with a rating Learn to play an instrument Write a poem about how you feel

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Playing the Game

The group creates each scene collaboratively. Each scene is a montage of the individual Space Marines trying to achieve a goal that validates their existence as something more than a sociopathic murder-tool for a fascistic religious hegemony in space. Start each scene by passing the index card in front of you to the player on your left. Decide whether the player whose character has the highest kill-count or lowest kill-count goes rst; the answer will tell you a lot about your groups attitude to mindless slaughter. Starting with the rst player as the Framer, play a number of rounds according to the following sequence. 1. Add a poker chip to every index card. 2. The Framer frames a scene for the character named on the index card in front of her, and they play through to an appropriately dramatic point (about 2-5 minutes is plenty). The other players can suggest details, but its up to the Framer and the active player whether they listen. 3. At an appropriate point, the active player Faces Off to see if her Space Marine succeeds. 4. Based on the result of the roll, the Framer and the active player bring the scene to a conclusion (again, 2-5 minutes should be more than enough) . 5. The role of Framer passes to the left.

Facing Off
1. Roll your dH. 8-10 is a success. 2. If you have as many successes as poker chips on your name, good! You get what you wanted. 3. If not, you try to force your way through your problem. Roll one of your dV. Read the results. Incorporate them into the resolution of the scene. If you still need more successes, roll another dV.

Violence Die Results

Roll Result

1-2 You end up worse off than when you started. -1 dH 3-4 You dont make any progress towards your goal. +1 dV 5-6 You escalate the situation. Add 1 to dV rolls (cumulative) 7-8 You browbeat whoever stands in your way. Add a success; add 1 to dV rolls (cumulative) 9-10 You demonstrate overwhelming force. Add a success; +1 dV; add 1 to dV rolls (cumulative). 11+ You get what you wanted, but get carried away. Add a success; -1 dH.

Outcomes
You get successes equal to the number of poker chips: Play out how you overcome whatever obstacle

stood in your way. Include the results of any dV used when playing the scene. +1 dH. If this is your last obstacle, well done. You achieved your goal. Are you a better person, or a worse Space Marine?
You run out of dV before succeeding: Your programmed urges overcome you, but proves insufcient to the

situation. Play out how you deal with the setback eventually, and how it demoralizes you. Lose all but 1 dH. Do you really want to continue?
You run out of dH before succeeding: Why did you ever want to do anything beyond obeying orders and

committing genocide in the name of your aggressively hegemonizing corporate swarm? You dont achieve your goal. You dont care. You-the-player still act as Framer, but your character takes no further part in the game. Did you win, or did you lose?
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