These Benighted Stars

[Grey]

Imeria is gone.


The homeworld is riotous with the remnants of the Magi and their golden age, and the war that ended it.


Thousands of years have passed, and you awaken without memory to an unfamiliar system.


You are Bandi; the warriors of the Magi. You are forever bound within your Soulcage - a suit of pseudo-living armour that contains and channels the terrible sorcerous energies that coruscate through your flesh. You are a master of gun, sword, and spell, and the Soulcage elevates your physical capabilities beyond mortal limits.


You are a free agent; your only guide is The Dreamer, a disembodied presence on your sensors.


He promises you that the system is full of enemies and chaos, and that your ancient duty is to maintain balanced.


How that balance is maintained is your choice.


The Soulcages


Wonders of biothaumatech, Soulcages are suits of armour bonded to their hosts that contain the power of the Bandi and channel to useful ends, while protecting and physically empowering them. There are 11 kinds of Soulcage, each corresponding to a different kind of Magic.


They channel the power of the Bandi into spells that can be turned on their enemies or more utilitarian effects.


Each is a tool with a different purpose, and a Circle of Bandi are incredibly devastating when their Soulcages complement each other.


Vala


The Flame of Justice


A solid all-round ‘cage, the Vala can project flames and increase their allies resistance to mind-altering effects.


Sarda


The Icy Grasp


An agile ‘cage, the Sarda can slow and freeze enemies with ice, and inspire fear.


Nabi


The All-Seeing


A fast but fragile ‘cage, Nabi can see and manipulate Fate.


Chaya


Death’s Shadow


Chaya is the stealthiest Soulcage, able to manipulate darkness and shadow.


Raksaka


The Glasswalker


Raksaka is a slow, tough ‘cage able to fold time and space.


Gaida


The Beacon of Hope


Gaida is a tough ‘cage that fires beams of light, can cloak itself, and inspire it’s allies.


Separa


The Red Talon


A versatile, bestial ‘cage, Separa can reshape itself, delivers deadly killing blows, and can envenomate targets.


Prem


The Thief of Thoughts


A light ‘cage able to probe and distort the minds of enemies.


Jadugara


The Soultaker


Jadugara is a much feared ‘cage, able to raise the dead and sunder souls.


Kampa


The Earthbreaker


Kampa is a very durable, strong ‘cage that can shape and shatter earth and metals.


Bijali


The Cleansing Storm


Bijali commands air, lightning, and magnetism.


Factions - The Demon Lords of Sol


The Jukari Empire


The Just Empire, The Holy Kingdom


Ruled by the Divine Juka Samrata, this sprawling empire is based on The Mother, one of the homeworld’s moons. It is mostly spread across various ships and space stations, as the Jukari seek to reclaim the homeworld from the corruption that consumes it.


The citizens of the Empire are almost uniformly soldiers, descended from Samrata herself. Generations of cloning have weakened the bloodline, and most current Jukari compensate with Hellforged cybernetics.


The Golden Spear


The Uprising, The Star of Glory


A small but influential mercenary company who believe they deserve to rule in place of the Empire. They reject augmentation, and more powerful members of the family will go into battle naked to demonstrate their prowess.


The Collective


The Cartel, The Machinists


The Collective worship the ancient machinery of the Magi - but not as much as they worship profits. Naturally predisposed towards engineering and receptive to augmentation, even their rank and file mortal agents are heavily modified and indoctrinated.


Iron Crescent


Retribution’s Blade


The Iron Crescent are a guerilla force of Demonkin who also fight against the Empire, but are more concerned with ending tyranny than ruling personally. They prefer to fight in melee, but also embrace weapons of mass destruction.


The New Flesh


The Infection, The Thinking Plague


What they cannot assimilate, they destroy. A hive-mind of contstantly mutating flesh, they are a threat to the whole system. Worse, they appear to have a guiding intelligence, and individual personalities sometimes manifest from the mass of writhing monsters.


The Sightless Eye


The Watchers


A sinister conspiracy of information brokers, the Sightless Eye also have the finest spies and assassins other than Chaya Soulcages. Their motives are unknown, and they often seem to be playing various factions against each other.


The Locust Crusade


Scythe of the Void


The Crusade are a dangerous, hateful family of Demonkin who seek not to rule, but to wipe all other life from the system. They’re willing to partner with others in the short term, and typically direct their efforts at the Empire as the largest target.


@Alad V @The Fuzz

 

[Silvertongued]

You know, this puts me in mind of Asura's Wrath. (And Warframe, though that goes without saying). I do like the idea of a very Hindu/Buddhist style theming that seems to be here, at least, that's what I'm getting from the naming system.


 
That said, imagine the Wild Hunt when it rips out of subspace, a teeming riot of ships that don't make sense, tearing across a system and taking what they will. And then... they're gone. Were it not for the wake of carnage, one would wonder if they were even truly there...

 

[Grey]

I hadn't added them yet, since this is incredibly rough early drafting, but I was planning for the Fae to be the opposing force in the war.


I'm also looking at variations where our Bandi are derived from Demons, like the Infernal Scions, or Fae.


But I found the idea of them being Magi trapped on the cusp of death by Manashock and contained by their armour compelling.

 

[Silvertongued]

Why not both?


Just because magi have a good idea doesn't mean that Demons or Fae can't mimic or just full on steal the idea. After all, in any war, if you can't find a weakness, you mimic the tactics of those who are winning.

 

[Grey]

I'd make that a plot element.

 

[Silvertongued]

If the enemy has an advantage, you develop your own similar or counter advantage. Similar devices or units, but fundamentally different.


You know, like the introduction of planes or tanks into the battlefield. A Spitfire isn't exactly the same as a Messerschmitt, but they both had elements that made each strong in their own rights. You just find the common thread between them.


Here, that common thread seems to be highly skilled and very powerful individuals, specialized for a particular kind of precision warfare. The thematic thread, being a difficult, irreversible process, that quite literally turns the subjects into a weapon of war. If for our Magi, they are contained within a shell powered by their consistent Manashock, then it would need to be a similar thematic and mechanic for our other dudes. Power at the brink of death, or one of the more used Crucible thematic, Power at any cost.


Lets see... for Demons, or Demonkin, they become stronger when invoking their primal vice. Forcing them, or rather a part of them into that vice to the point of madness seems like a good way to do it. Of course, madness is a bad thing to have in a combat operative. So, it seems that one would compartmentalise that aspect of the personality, seal it off from actually doing shit, have it... matrixing out. A large segment of the soul of a Demonkin operative is in a simulated environment dedicated to indulging their vice, and fueling their strength to a crazy degree. Or course, the side effect is that externally, these Demonkin operatives would be missing their vices due to it being sealed away. Slothful are the hardest workers, Wrathful are the calmest, Prideful are the most inconspicuous, and so on, to the point where it's not physically or mentally healthy, at least in day to day life. But then again, these individuals are devices for war, not people~


Now, for our Faye... Well, the central theme of where Faye's abilities stem from is belief, which makes this pretty easy. Faye operatives are observed at almost all times by their support cult, worshiped, deified, their followers fanatics. Everything is a show with the Faye operatives. They have dedicated directors, design specialists, PR managers, presenting an image to their countless fans that supports their supernatural abilities. So they spend half the time being operatives, the rest of the time being the focus of a cult of celebrity that is quite literally consuming their lives. Sure, there'd be a lot of burnouts, and I'm pretty sure there'd be cultural weirdness with long standing damages to the Faye society as a whole, but anything to win the war~


So, thoughts people?

 

[Cirno]

I read that and see Fae: Macross Frontier edition. Dark and glamourous.


@Silvertongued: For Demons, what if their cycle of recorporation was messed up in this new world too? Maybe the suits help them gain Essence to maintain their corporeality? Maybe it's a point in favour of compartmentalising themselves. Vice-crazy side gathers Essence in an attempt to rise up in the new equivalent of Rank/Resonance, while the weapon-operative/survival mode side temps down on overuse of Essence?

 

[Silvertongued]

The idea of images of Faye pop singers beamed across battlefields to inspire terror and cultural impurity is pretty funny.


@Cirno: And yeah, that's the general idea. If demons or demonkin are consistently manifesting in the mortal realm, they're either not pure demons, or something is wrong with their ability to draw Essence and Resonance/Ascendance, as true demons would eat up the mortal universe and spit it out.


But yeah, that's the general gist of it. One side of them is harvesting Essence and Ascendance like crazy, using it to power or fuel the suit, but not allowing the crazy to manifest in their behaviour. Like.... a powerful inhibitor chip or something. 'Course, with the way that works, you can't just keep little bits, it's all or nothing, hence why that kind of behavior is excised from the surface of the demonkin operative. It means that the Greed could not see the point in owning things beyond the merest practicality, or that the Lustful have about as much sex drive as your average raw potato. That kind of thing.

 

[Grey]

Each of the Demonic factions is one of the Houses from Darkening Skies, modified, as it is.


I'll consider these interesting suggestions, though.

 

[Grey]

All Soulcages have two defensive traits: Shields and Soak.


Soak is straightforward - it reduces incoming physical harm by a flat value. By default it is 5 for all ‘cages, but certain ‘cages have a higher or lower value.


Shields start at 10 and negate incoming damage. They refresh fully every second Round as long as no hits landed. Soak does not apply.


‘Cages have different Condition values, and user Health is always 10.


All ‘Cages are immune to Magic, preventing friendly fire and forcing Bandi vs. Bandi conflicts to gun and blade.


All Soulcages grant the wearer Physical Attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Fitness) of 4. Each type of ‘cage adds bonus Physical Attribute points on top of that.


Intuition starts at 2 and costs 3, 6, and 9XP for ranks 3 to 6.


All other Attributes start at 1.


You get 54 XP to spend on all Social and Physical Attributes at standard XP rates.


Opportunities to increase Attributes after character creation will be rare.


All Bandi awaken with three points in Melee, Ranged, Unarmed, and Athletics. You’ll receive XP for Skills as memories return or you undertake training.

 

[Grey]

Alternate Visions





Once, there was an Empire...


The Nightworld still bears the scars from that reign, the crumbling citadels and darkened skies, the creatures that lurk in the ruins. Once, you fought to destroy it without thought to the consequences, compelled by righteous and sacred duty. The enemy was too powerful for you, though, no matter how hard you fought. No matter the loss of life, hours of training, or collateral damage.


But in the end, you found a sacrifice that would work. Encased in Soulcages to contain the brimming, eldritch power that you had invited into yourselves, You are Sapita, warrior-monks of an ancient order committed to destroying the Great Enemy. With the power of the devas flowing through you, you defeated that enemy, and then... all memory is lost.


Now you awaken to a system overrun by unchecked Magi, and no sign of your former foes.


Soulcages


Planned: either 7 or 19 different 'cages. If 19, divided into the below subgroups


The Triad of Day


The Triad of Night


The Triad of Flame


The Triad of Ice


The Triad of Flesh


The Triad of Steel


The Abbots.


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