Playable Classes: Prime Arbiter & Aqasoo Latent Nova Psionic
by: Wedge Smith, Co-Creator
This is the first post in a regular update series which will reveal all 10 playable Iconic Character Templates (or classes) that will be available in Chronicles of the Void. Each one includes a bit of CotV fiction to set the stage for the origins of the class, a Game Play Overview section to get an idea of how each might be played, and finally a short blurb about our Iconic CotV Character which the class is based off of. So without further preamble I give you the Prime Arbiter and the Aqasoo Latent Nova Psionic.
1) Prime Arbiter
Nearly 400 years ago the Trans Solar Unified Protectorate (TSUP) discovered the planet 71099-Vorenas on a routine drone scouting mission. Included in the drone's report alongside descriptions of the planet's extremely irregular orbit, violent sandstorms, and volatile tectonic activity was a geological mineral analysis that indicated planet 71099-Vorenas to have 357 million tons of raw Multonium. At this time of the discovery this amount of Multonium represented approximately 77.239% of all Multonium in the known Universe.
What followed was a gold rush fever, with mining operations as small as single freighter teams up to Multi-Galactic Corporations all scrambling to collect the fortune. Unfortunately for many, 71099-Vorenas, or M-Rock as it became called, was an uncommonly inhospitable planet that resisted all attempts to establish even rudimentary settlements. The poisonous atmosphere was so lethal that it killed any exposed living creature in seconds. The frequent sandstorms moving at supersonic velocities tore through even hardened bunkers and the highly erratic tectonic movement prevented any kind of subterranean colonies from taking root. In short M-Rock was nearly a perfect storm. The mortality rate for miners in the first year was 93%. To make matters worse, a large portion of fatalities were to non-ecological sources: booby traps set by other miners, sabotage of life support units, and outright banditry were commonplace. Most would be miners turned around and went home, or perished. Only a handful of the wealthiest miners were left 3 years after the initial discovery, but even for them, the cost of human and non-human resources lost in extraction of the Multonium was too high.
As a result, the TSUP launched a massive robotic drone development project that brought together the best AI scientists that money could buy. Within 3 years the mining drone project had created a series of highly adaptable robots which were designed to withstand the planet's harsh environment and who possessed complex solution matrix algorithms for problem solving since contact with the ground from orbit was unreliable in the best of times. The drones were launched to the planet from orbit, and were programmed to stockpile their mined Multonium in specific caches around the planet where transport ships would regularly rendezvous to collect the payload. The mining drones exceeded everyone's expectations within the first 6 months of their deployment, but they were not alone. A parallel drone mining project funded by the Abyss Corporation also launched a series of robotic mining drones only 4 months after the TSUP project went live, and the results were catastrophic. Details about the events that occurred on the planet M-Rock during this period are unacceptably few since the robotic mining drones were unable to communicate regularly with the orbital ships due to extreme solar radiation. But security footage from the transport ships that hauled the Multonium off planet confirm that in addition to their normal cargo, decapitated heads of rival mining robots were often found piled next to each shipment. Over the next two years a sort of arms race developed between TSUP and Abyss, as new drones were developed outfitted with military armaments and their AI was upgraded with guerrilla warfare tactics. Multonium shipments slacked, and the robotic body count reached incredible levels.
Then inexplicably one day, all contact with the mining droids on both sides suddenly ceased. The subsequent transport ships reached the Multonium rendezvous site and there were no more severed robot heads, just towering stacks of purified Multonium. From this day forward, the Multonium payload for each pickup site remained precisely the same. Any new drones sent to the planet abruptly cut off transmissions to their mother ships within minutes of making landfall, and no communication with the mining drones was re-established. While both TSUP and Abyss were curious about the change in behavior on the planet, they were both making profits hand over fist, and no further action on their part seemed necessary to maintain this profitable enterprise. The scientists and high level executives gradually shipped off to other exiting projects, and a minimal facility was left in orbit to continue to extract and ship the Multonium.
After nearly 200 years, the first report of an unregistered transport ship left the atmosphere of the planet M-Rock and disappeared in a flash as it entered a worm-hole space jump. The small orbital TSUP shipping facility logged the event but otherwise, business continued as usual. Twenty Seven days later, two additional ships emerged from the planet, one establishing a stable orbit around the planet and another which winked off into another worm-hole. The orbiting vessel's schematics matched no known model and it immediately began to release satellites around the planet. The TSUP crew watched as the unidentified ship docked with their space station, and from the airlock emerged robots the likes of which they have never seen before.
They identified themselves as the Prime Sovereign Robotic Nation, and demanded to be recognized as a free nation. These Prime robots launched Arbiters across the Universe to spread their culture and influence.
You are such an Arbiter.
Uniquely constructed your body is more a platform for a base of operations than a single unit. Prime Arbiters have a wide variety of specialized remote drones which dock on their body but are capable of performing directed independent action. Surveillance, munitions, assassination, and heavy weapons are just a few of the many drones in the arsenal of the Prime Arbiter.
Game Play Overview: Very resilient and adaptable the Prime Arbiter has the ability to use drones that dock on its body. High HP and armor make them very potent front line fighters with extensive customization by building new components directly into their chassis. The Prime Arbiter is also a skilled diplomat, with extensive knowledge of negotiation tactics.
Iconic Character: Dust (Prime Robot) Founding member of a race of highly intelligent robotic beings known as Prime he was an influential ambassador turned outlaw who has taken to the Marshals of Ash as his adopted family in exile, seeing himself as a self styled elder patriarch.
2) Aqasoo Latent Nova Psionic
The Aqasoo are an alien race which originated as amphibious humanoids but have since left the tidal pools and spend the majority of their lives on land. Physically all Aqasoo have vibrant chameleonic skin and hair that can shift colors and patterns at will. They also all share a long thin fin that runs the length of their spinal column and terminates at the buttock in a short flat tail. In addition, the Aqasoo have a unique ability to connect their highly evolved immune system with another individual, to rapidly help heal wounds or fight off infection. When healing, the Aqasoo harmonize with the patient's body by matching their skin tone and texture, and lay their hands on the point of injury or upon the patient's vital nodes. A small flat flap of skin in the hand is pushed open by increased blood pressure where a proboscis emerges. The probe has a cylindrical shape with many radiating vessels that allows them to make contact with another organism, latch on, and begin to feed defensive antibodies into the target organism and engorge the wounded site with blood to promote fast healing. This state is extremely taxing for both subjects and rest is often required after extended periods of healing.
Culturally the Aqasoo are an ancient race, that trace their origins far back before that of Humans. Over that time, they have evolved one of the most powerful genetic lines of Psionic warriors the Universe has ever known called Nova. They were regarded across the Universe as the highest form of mental warriors, able to shape the world around them with the awesome power of their minds.
Many respected and feared their prowess, and it is widely believed that one of the principle reasons that the Aqasoo were targeted first by the Banx Crusade was to wipe them off the battlefield quickly and decisively. Indeed the SERK, who fought with the Banx, designed entire armies with the single purpose of hunting down and destroying every living Nova psionic. Unfortunately for the Aqasoo and the rest of the civilized Universe, the SERK were exceedingly efficient, and the ensuing genocide exterminated Nova to the very last member.
Every member, except you.
The Nova psionic psyche is so sophisticated that even the most advanced technology is unable to detect or explain it with complete accuracy. It seems that Nova somehow perceived its imminent defeat and began to shut down its own expression, laying dormant in certain sleeper individuals, waiting for the right time to re-emerge. While Nova lives in secret, it also jealously guards its few remaining hosts. When Latent Nova Psionics undergo periods of extreme bodily or mental stress, the Nova psyche will take over, and the effects are terrible to behold.
Game Play Overview: The Aqasoo Latent Nova Psionic has the abilities to naturally heal others and is the most fluid and graceful of all the characters thanks for their race's genetics and the anti-gravity hover boots which are commonplace among Aqasoo. Generally they are lightly armored, and skilled with the Aqasoo Razor Wire, pistols and various other advanced weapons. They also express a special berserk type mode of play. When the character reaches their last wound track they gain the full power of a Nova Psionic and become a one person wrecking crew until they finally fall unconscious.
Iconic Character: Alizara Baylen (Female / Alien) Charismatic Aqasoo woman who hopes to rebuild her species' society after it was brutally ravaged during the Banx Crusade, she is deeply invested in the grand goal of the Marshals of Ash and sees herself as its matriarch. She discovered her Latent Nova Psionic powers in adulthood when her life was threatened by raiders. Now she not only carries the burden of finding a new home for her scattered people but also holds the key to the rebuilding of their heritage with the Nova psyche hidden within her.
