Shadows of Sarsonia
The Brief Intro
Shadows of Sarsonia
Long ago on a single blue world, Men and Gods lived together. However, a single world was not large enough for either and the Gods took their followers and scattered them across the Sidereal Seas and taught them to access the inner secrets of the universe, of magic and divine power. From these scattered origins Men spread out across skies colonizing new worlds and forming new Empires all under the auspices of their Gods.
But it turned out even in the Great Sidereal Seas there was not enough space for the Gods and Men to live in harmony. The Greatest of the Empires of Man, the oldest which still retained the Homeworld under the urging its pantheon moved forward and set out to bring the others to heel beneath the Glory that was Sarsonia, the First City the center of the universe where they're Gods dwelled. War broke out and in blink of eye worlds burned from mighty magics and the death-throes of the Gods themselves.
Now a century after the great war, Sarsonia lies broken, the Great Empires of Man lie broken across space, and the powers that survived or came from the war are now taking stock as a new threat arrives on their borders. For there was not only humans out in the Sidereal Skies and the newcomers have their own conflicts and see the ruined worlds of men a useful pawn in their age old games....
The Old Empires
- The Tian-Ju Pact: A alliance of states that was unified under Xen-Frei,
- Sarsonia Empire: The Greatest Empire of Known Space, its God-Kings lead the war against the others the resulting war destroyed the heart of civilization
- Rashappra Republics: The trading republics which tried to stay neutral
- Obsidian Empire: Reigning from the throne of the Feather Serpent, the the Txhuchili’s God-King still remains the only active survivor of the God’s War
- The Concordance of Olymplus: Alliance of the Polis, devastated when the Sarasonia 7th Charioteers detonated a hell-bomb on Iluis their capital.
- The Hjalf Extents: Freeholds that were only unified during the war
- Bannerdom of High Rock: The non-aligned movement, formed for collective self defense against the might of Sarsonia, named after the battle of High Rock in Sarsonia Prime, when the last of the original homeworld forces non-Sarsonia fell.
The New Powers
- Neo-Sarsonia: Ruined and berefit of its Gods (imprisoned in the Underworld) the remnants of the Greatest Empire of Man still have mighty relics and knowledge
- Median Imperium: Light Bringers on a crusade to destroy unjust gods and to bring Light to all corners of space.
- The Elvish Governate of Kremshtaffel: Culturally imperialistic elves settling in the area.
- The Iylsvaiel Fleet: Their rivals from the Dark Star region
- The Weald Corsairs: A stretch of stars that are home to the Corsairs, bandit kingdoms operating out of the last habitatal stretches of their ruined words
- Ilksonon: A former tributary of the Tian-Ju, now surviving intact member and colonizing its formers masters and fellow vassals
Magic
Stats
- Power,
- Normal person: The average man. While the breath of Creation and the Curse of Death is embodied in his very nature, he is unable to tap it on his own without aids, support from creatures or education. P1. In high theory coutures, they can be deceptively powerful able to use grimores to make up for the lack of power with technique. P1
- Enlightened: The average magus, they are those who taken the first steps in learning about the magical world. The vast majority of magi are this along with a minority of those whose who family still hold the touch of magic in their blood. P2
- Born in Magic/Awakened Magus/Elf Steeped in Magic/ Magical families tend to breed with each other to increase the power of their children. Others at this rank are those who take dangerous steps of forcibly opening up chakras or implanting artificial magic circuits in them, or rarer where made by the gods to be one with magic. P5
- Oracle/Godking: Rare is the magi who upon often centuries of accumulating power transforms himself into a being more of energy and possibility then matter. Rarer are those who the direct children of the Gods in this fallen age, though the heroes of the tales long ago still resonate.
P10
Strategic magic resolution dice is P2xT D10s
- Theory:
- Apprentice/Initiate:
- At this level, one becomes aware of the Supernal influence in the field of activity. A Energetic Initiate can see leylines, Anima can view illness. With great deal of effort they can affect change of something already there, turning heat into cold. CP1
- Witch/Shaman, Apprentice
- In less developed cultures this is generally where magical understanding tops out (though it doesn't mean it can't be equally powerful, a god throwing simple fireball is more devastating then most learned wizard splitting the atom. Here magical effects are made, but they are crude and inefficient. The start of most conceptions of magic spells occurs here, basic bindings, transmutations, fireballs, and healing. The great wonders of the previous age was done at this level, for they had tremendous power behind their works. CP2
- Magus/Priest/Wizard
- This is where "civilized" nations tend to have their magic users top at. Their spells are generally more sophisticated to make up for the lack of power the previous Age magic users brought to the table. CP3
- Master
- At the master level, magic is brought to levels that transcend the laws of the universe. Death can be defeated, portals through space and time ripped apart. The boundaries of magic no longer contain the user. CP5
- Arch Master
- Is where older masters tend to reside in, by then they are more magic the living beings themselves. CP7
- Apprentice/Initiate:
Divisions
Major Branches
- Capability is determined by theory and power. Meaning a uneducated godking can still blow up cities and warp space along with the most learned magus.
- Capability: 1 Sensing and being aware. Very minor effects
- Capability: 3 Channeling the force on battlemap level.
- Capability: 5 Mastery: High end feats as city size explosions, wormholes, targeting armies with blessings or curses, or raising a legion of the dead.
- Capability: 7 Epic Magic: Planet size target feats.
- Energetics: The Art of Forming Energies, from power sources to lasers to fireballs
- Anima: The Art of Forming Life, from healing to cancer, to new lifeforms to restoring old ones
- Forging: The Art of Forming Matter, creating weapons, creating new materials, destroying or weaking them.
- Supernal: The Art of Heavens: Forming the portrals to tranverse the heavens, to see and affect spirits, to bind souls, to pierce the veil of reality
Minor Branches
- Necromancy
- Infernalism
- Psionics
- Prophecy
- Ritualism; Art of appeaseing Gods and high spirits
Geography and Travel
Geography
A star system can have multiple inhabited planets, space is pretty inhospitable, but is filled with primal energies from the suns (where Gods are belived to reside) which is easily transformed by a competent mage or rune to create breathable atompshere for the crew as long they near their ship or whatever. However, to engage in the long distance Gate opening to another system they have to travel out to the outer edges of the system where the primal energies are weaker to allow for mortal magics of such might to be able to open safely
However, beyond the Gate lines is the Outer Dark, where creatures of darkness away, who are burnt by the Suns and energies given off by planets but not by mortal hands. Thus the safe course are often ones that take it to the nearest Jovians that are by the line.
Once the Gate is open, the ships transfer into the world of the Supernal, which is belived to be one of the levels of existence where souls and Gods come from, the longer they stay in, the longer they run the risk of becoming ethereal themselves, and there are horror stories of ships who were trapped in the Supernal unable to leave lest they dissiapite like a dream back in reality. Thus ships jump from star to start in short bursts staying a week in reality to firm up their own existence before jumping again.
On the planets themselves the Godswars touched everything, most planets are inhabited by survivors, a lucky city or sometimes nation that survived the worst of the strikes against their world, and the rest of the world is often home to small villages and tribes, monsters and of courses ruins.
Resources
- Relics: Single use spell effects, often a gift from the Gods
- Soulstones: Sacrificing population and entrapping their souls can create items that magnify the power of a magus or high end unit.
- Lyrium: is turned into two things
- Runestones or script for enchantments and permanent effects (and big projects)
- Tass: Used for large spells
- Economic Support Your economic support for your military
- Labor/Industrial Pool: Your ability to marshal your industry/slaves to actually build it in physical space
Nation Creation
Military Units
Template
- Unit Type
- Civilization Level
- Offensive
- Defense
- Ability 1
- Ability 2
Civilization Level
- A rank that doesn't come up when fighting peers of the same CL, but if fighting others on different level of the scales, they do 10% less/more damage per difference, and each level gains more HP for their units
- Rank 1: Bronze Age / Age of Gods | HP=1000
- Rank 2; Iron Age / Age of Heroes | HP=1500
- Rank 3; Steam Age / Age of Leyline | HP=2500
- Rank 4; Gas Light Age / Age of Sages | HP=3000
- Rank 5: Atomic Age / Age of Wonders | HP=5000
Offensive
- Full Assault
- Normal
- Garrison
Defense
- Light
- Normal
- Juggernaut
Unit Type
- Aerial: Be it birds to fighter planes, they fly through the air and require a home platform to base off.
- 'Faring: Be it sky, water or the Sidereal, they are the large craft that ply them
- Infantry: Humble but ever important
- Immobile: A floating wizard tower to underground base
- Mobile: Chariots to tanks, to lizards with wizards on them.
Abilities
- Armoured
- Artillery
- Bomber
- Evoking Magic
- Flying
- Hostile
- Infernal Magics (Note War Crimes)
- Melee
- Stealth
- Surface to Aether
- Sub
- Ward Magic