Oath of Moment

Erika Chappell (and Lexie, sorry Lexie. Don’t know your last name so no author credit this time) is an absolute madwoman. Somehow in the midst of everything she just goes and makes the best Warhammer 40k RPG ever put to page and releases it for free on BlueSky. Just writes 200 pages, drops a link, flips a double bird to a certain very litigious miniatures company, and (presumably) jetpacks into the sunset.

Oath of Moment is about the complexities of being a Space Marine from Warhammer 40k. They’re objectively super-human supersoldiers capable of laying waste to entire armies, sworn warriors of honor. And they go renegade and start fucking everything up at the slightest provocation because the Emperor of Man sucks that much and being a Space Marine is riven with contradictions.

You build your Space Marine by picking a Chapter, which gives you a culture and a primarch and a bunch of Oaths—things you absolutely have to do or else. There’s also a tactical role, which determines weapons and combat powers, and provides another Oath. Following Oaths and completing objectives makes numbers go up, breaking them or failing makes numbers go down. Number hits zero and you’re done as a Space Marine.

The brutal elegance is that your Oaths will be contradictory: with themselves, with other members of the squad, with good tactical sense. “Blessed is the mind too small for doubt”, as the setting tells us.

Likewise, much of the game is made up of what Jay Dragon might call the fruitful void of combat. Space Marines are so badass that victory is assured. Yet there’s a simple and elegant dice pool mechanic that encourages you to stay close to your battle brothers and concentrate firepower, to jump on top of grenades, and generally act properly. All of these tactical rules and choices create space for the Oaths and their contradictions to come into effect.