I'm very glad that non-CSM characters will be possible in BC. Much as I like the idea of Astartes, I find "normal" humans to make more interesting characters. (Merely a personal opinion, of course.)

Oh, and regarding the Bolter discussion, take a look at the Gyrojet gun en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet - Bolters shouldn't have very high recoil compared to their caliber.

I don't know why it took me this long to realize it, but, since the setting of this game is one of the warp storms at the edge of the Koronus Expanse, that means that PCs from there won't be Imperial citizens who have fallen/been seduced by Chaos. In fact, they may have no knowledge of the Imperium at all...

As unlikely as they'd be to team up with Chaos, I know I'd love rules for playing Dark Eldar.

It might help me stave off the need to build an army if they did... :P

Agmar_Strick said:

I thought BC would be without classes, but with each talent being devided amongst the chaos gods so that you will end up being alligned with one of them through your talent / skill choices.

One of the previews said they had starting packages based on various archetypes. They could be considered to be classes, in a way.

Though unlike classes they don't determine the path of progress that your character has to take.

TormDK said:

I think that's blowing it a tad bit out of proportion.  It sounds like the Alignment thing is only if you're devoting too much to one god instead of anything else, not a hard and fast rule.  And even then there's rules for slight penalties or your alignment changing instead of rigid paths like the current 3 games.

If my group plays this, I would love to play a Thousand Sons Sorcerer. 

Wolffrnd said:

This.

Cool looking power armour - check. Large and scary weapon - check. Diabolic evil powers - check.

A winner is me.

Undivided all the way, just to see if can be last man standing and reletivly low on corruption and insanity.

 Either a Tesla inspired Tzeentch DarkMech or Undivided stalin-esque human warlord if playing in the vortex or primarily chaos space.

If playing in the imperium either a nurgle follower in the administration who does his job helping the bureaucracy of of the imperium get more bogged down and and speed it's decay or a decadent slanneesh noble.

 What about a insane warrior who has fled to the Screaming Vortex to get to the source of the toxins and booze that can only be created on a daemon world because nothing else can get him high/drunk anymore and he wants the sensation of these things far more than he wants to keep those around him alive to do it?

While I would favor more "mundane" followers of Chaos, I recently uncovered a Chaos Space Marine I think we should all try:

http://blazbaros.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3e1vgp (yes, this is safe for work.)  BREAD FOR THE BREAD GOD!!!

 What about a Kroot who is part of a band of Kroot who had feasted on far too many corrupted agents of chaos that they have ingested the taint as part of their dna? The leader of this vicious warband is a fat, diseased Kroot on the scale of one Jabba the Hutt. At the start of the game, the chaos kroot go out in search of more chaos-tainted creatures and people to devour! Mmmm warp spawn!

My current concept for the campaign we have slated to begin as soon as the book comes out is a guy who barely made it onto the last boat off of some doomed world that was being devoured by the tyranids and he watched his Guardsman father and brothers getting slaughtered and eaten behind him. This left him with a bone-deep certainty that the Tyrannids are the worst threat to mankind that exists. As the orphan of an Imperial Guardsman he went to the Schola Progenium and spent his years there trying to learn how the Tyranids could be beaten. He came to the conclusion that they could not be bested by conventional means, but only on their own terms. The bio-weapons had to be fought with bio-weapons. His research into germ warfare has led him naturally to the service of Nurgle. He is certain that he is using the terrible lore of chaos to a noble end, bring about the destruction of mankinds greatest foe.

We'll see where it leads...

Oh, and he talks, of course, Like Dr. Evil. :D