Kanluwen said:

A thirst for blood and haunting genetic memory of their primarch's death that send them into a psychopathic frenzy are not serious mutations?

Wolftemplar said:

In my opinion?

No, because those are behavioral quirks and of those only one is directly related to the geneseed(the genetic memory of Sanguinus' death).

Kanluwen said:

Not to be argumentative here but you are altering the definition of a word to suit you. A mutation is any genetic abnormality. Any and all; just because you’d prefer to call it “Whoopsies” doesn’t matter, it is a mutation. And frankly I’m a little baffled as to why this is a point of argument for you my friend. Perhaps you feel we are attacking you most beloved chapter or something? That is not the case. A mutation isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. It is a neutral thing, not being evil or good, it just is. In fact the very act of making a Space Marine is mutating the man from a normal human into something else. All Space Marines are mutants by definition as they have had their genetic material altered. It’s just that it is, for the most part, controlled and regulated (which is why what happens to the Space Wolves and others is a further mutation) and is needed because without the Marines (if we believe the background) the Imperium would have collapsed long ago.

And “mutations” would not be too strong a word; in fact “Aberration,” (the word you chose to use) is a much stronger word as it has a negative meaning, an aberration is something that passes on negative genetic material where as a mutation can be negative or positive. Also you called them “Gene-seed Flaws,” yet another strong and negative word (the very fact that you say it is a flaw places negative value to it). But the rest of us are saying mutation not to be negative but simple to state a fact. In point of fact the argument could be made that the Space Wolves mutation has a net positive for them (just ask any hardcore Wolf-ite and they can give you a hundred reasons it’s the best thing ever, lol). Also the Salamander mutation has no real effect other than the aesthetic.

Edit: And the Bloodlust is caused by a mutation. It is caused by a breakdown of the prefrontal cortex which is the reasoning center which is triggered by a massive release of adrenalin and other brain chemicals as they relive their Primarch’s death; this would trigger the medulla oblongata and temporal lobe, which are reactive centers, (what we might call the animal centers) to take control of functionality. This may not be how it is stated in the codex or official lore but biochemically it is the only way it could be explained within the given parameters; and it is boring which is why they wouldn’t just state it in this manner (and trust me even with how boring that was I could have been even more so) and instead make it cooler in the lore.

Don't you go bringing your fancypants science in here! :P

Plus, if I remember right the Salamanders are a bit more slow and ponderous compared to the rest of the Astartes. But I don't have that stuff on-hand anymore.

Kanluwen said:

     Yes, Codex:Armageddon for the old edition of the TT game. The Salamanders got their own army list ( along with Black templars, IG Steel Legion and Ork Speed Freaks ). What set the Sallies apart from other Chapters was the fact their Initiative was on par with normal humans ( 3 ).