Bridge Worlds: Soterion

by Randy Blackwell

  They went to Ariana, who not only gave them permission to house the Magi there but also made the Magi a part of Caelsis.

  Why keep science a secret?

  It isn’t as much to keep science a secret but to keep potentially harmful devices away from those who would misuse them. Consider roman candles. When properly used, a roman candle is a phenomenal tool for enjoying fireworks. In the hands of a child or an unscru- pulous adult, it becomes a weapon. Omar never wanted science to be used for malevolent reasons. Secrecy is needed to keep those who would misuse science in the dark, so to speak. That is why entering the Magi is difficult. If it cannot be used for the good of Soterion, then Omar doesn’t want it used at all.

  Initiation Those who wish to join the Magi must go to the Magi representative within their Kingdom. Daqad who live in Marasimlah must forsake their home, never to return. King Alagaar, because Magi will not inform the king on how they do what they do, banishes all Daqad who leave for the Tower of the Magi.

  Those who wish to join the Magi must stand before the Tower of the Magi in Caelsis, where they will be met by a member of the Magi. Initiates are taken south to the Sea of Sachar, where the initiate will be given a paddle boat and coordinates to an island. Initiates will begin their quests to become a Magi if they make it to the Island, where the training occurs.

  The quests given are always different. Omar Metzger will meet the initiate and issue seven quests to be accomplished on the Island of the Magi. Omar found the Island before the Magi were an Order in Caelsis. Omar will explain that nothing is ever what it seems on the Island and that supernatural events occur on the Island quite often. The quests that the initiate will be given are puzzle-solving types of quests, where the initiate will have to prove an ability for solving enigmas. Once initiates successfully complete seven quests for Omar, they will be taken to a place called the “Rock of Truth.” There, along with the other initiates, the initiate will be given a choice: leave the Island never to return again or swear an oath never to reveal the secrets of the Magi. Before swearing the oath, they will be given a pill that when swallowed physically binds the initiate to the oath. After this information has been shared, each initiate will swear the oath one by one.

  The Magi Oath

  “I swear to seek the truth in all things. It is my oath that I will protect all secrets kept by the Magi even unto death. I will help my fellow Magi when they are in need, as we seek knowledge and understanding together as a unified order.”

  The Ranks of the Magi:

  The ranks below apply to Magi levels only for the purposes of multi classes. Thus, a level 15 character with ten levels in warrior and 5 levels in Magi is a level 5 Magi.

  Brephos A Brephos is an initiate who has gained the trust of the Magi but has yet to prove true dedication to learning. Other Magi will help, but they will sometimes question motives before helping. (Magi Levels 1 through 5)

  Sophos A Sophos has proven a dedication to learning and most Magi will come to his add without hesitation. He has not yet, however, mastered his skills to a level worthy of a Kurios. (Magi Levels 6-15)

  Kurios When others want help or advice on a certain subject matter, they go to you. You have made a reputation for yourself (be it good or bad) and it is known that you are a wealth of knowledge. (Magi Level 16+)

  Alexandros Alexander was an Adam Magi who founded and ran the Alexandros,who are Warrior Magi. The Alexandros choose Magi who have become well skilled in science and illusion. Adam may be asked to join at level 10 because of their superior ability to learn skills. All other Magi would not be contacted until they reached the rank of Kurios.

  Magi of Note:

  These are the Magi who have made the rank of Kurios and risen to leadership within the Magi ranks. Name Race Omar Metzger Akana Classes Magi

  Leadership Protos

  Seux Nepsah Rogue/Magi Deuteros

  Sebastian Gabad Warrior/Magi

  Myles Callaghan Adam Bard/Magi/Warrior Tristos/

  Alexandros Kurios

  King Erestar Raphad Aristocrat/Magi Kurios Queen Hope Raphad Queen Ariana Nepsah Magi/Aristocrat Aristocrat/Magi Kurios Kurios Title

  Master of Physics, Biology, Technology, and Chemistry

  Master of Illusion and Chemistry

  Master of Chemistry and Herbalism

  Master of Illusion and Physics

  Master of Biology, Botany, and Chemistry Master of Biology Master of Physics

  How to play a Magi:

  Magi are devoted to the quest for knowledge and are driven by this devotion. It can be a great asset and a horrible weakness.

  Items: Magi have access to all kinds of uncommon items, which must still be bought at the Tower of the Magi. Some sciences allow for items to be found and made. Skills: Balance, Brawling, Concentration, Craft, Defense, Enigmas, First Aid, Fishing, Intimidate, Jump, Language-Speak, Language-Read/Write, Listen, Lore, Memory Recall, Momentum Shift, Ride, Running-Distance, Running-Speed, Science (Mathematics, Biology, Geography, Chemistry, Anatomy, Botany, Ecology, Geology, Ethereal Sciences, Medicine, Physics, Pyrotechnics, Metallurgy, Forensic Science, Meteorology, Oceanography, Engineering, Ballistics, Basic Flight, Magi Deployment System, Advanced Sciences), Search, Sleight of Hand/Illusion, Spot, Swim, and Weapon Group: General.

  Ranger

  Rangers can survive without all the trappings of civilization. They tend to like caring for animals and plants while the buzz of city life grates on their nerves. Give them the broad outdoors and they’ll never be happier. Petitioning to join the Rangers is just as dangerous as petitioning to join the Warriors Guild. Ranger recruits are sent to remote locations to prove that they can survive under the harshest of conditions. If they return, then they are worthy to join the Guild; however, some die during the testing. The Rangers of Marasimlah are known to be the toughest Rangers on Soterion. They are sworn to fight alongside the Warrior’s Guild in the event of an attack on Marasimlah.

  Skills: Animal Empathy, Animal Handling, Balance, Bow Weapons: Critical Shot, Bow Weapons: Rapid Shot, Brawling, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Damage Focus, Defense, Defense: Improved Defense, Disarm, First Aid, Fishing, Hide, Intuit Direction, Jump, Listen, Memory Recall, Momentum Shift, Ride, Running-Distance, Running-Speed, Search, Second Attack, Spot, Survival (Desert, Snow/Frozen, Tropical, or Temperate), Swim, Tumble, Two Weapons, Weapon Group: General, Weapon Group: Bow Weapons: Weapon Group: Thrown Weapons, and Wrestling/Grappling.

  Rogue

  The Rogue’s Guild is still fighting to gain a good reputation. Because they began the Guild Wars, it has been hard for them to gain the trust of the creatures of Soterion. To this day all Rogues are to be killed on site when in Marasimlah and those Daqad who choose to become Rogues are banished from Marasimlah forever. The other Kingdoms have allowed Rogues to re-form their Guilds within their walls but under close scrutiny. The Rogues in Philos have aided the Kingdom as scouts for the military. Famous Rogues like Seux (see Caelsis) have helped to restore the reputation of the Guild.

  Skills: Appraise, Backstab, Balance, Bluff, Brawling, Defense, Defense: Improved Defense, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, First Aid, Fishing, Forgery, Gather Information, Haggle, Hide, Jump, Listen, Memory Recall, Momentum Shift, Open Lock, Poison Weapon, Ride, Running-Distance, Running-Speed, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Sneak, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Weapon Group: General, Weapon Group: Bow Weapons, and Weapon Group: Thrown Weapons.

  Warrior

  After the Great Battle, the heads of the Warrior’s Guilds came together in the hope of finding a method of testing recruits that was sufficient to find the best of the best. The Guild masters came up with the Gauntlet. This is the method that all Kingdoms use to test the mettle of recruits.

  The Gauntlet is a uniform method of testing initiates and assigning rank to new recruits. An Initiate can only attain up to the rank of Lieutenant to start with. Lieutenant is reserved for the one who exhibits the most skill and savvy in the Gauntlet. Higher ranks must be earned through ser
vice.

  Skills: Balance, Bash Door, Brawling, Damage Focus, Defense, Defense: Improved Defense, Disarm, First Aid, Fishing, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Momentum Shift, Poison Weapon, Ride, Running-Distance, Running-Speed, Search, Second Attack, Spin Attack, Spot, Swim, Third Attack, Weapon Group: General, Weapon Group: Bow Weapons, and Wrestling/Grappling. Ranks:

  The following ranks provide the minimum qualifications of command should a character in the Warrior Guild enlist in the kingdom’s army.

  Initiate--the lowest ranking warrior

  Private--a warrior who has been a warrior for at least six months or has impressed his superiors in order to be “step-promoted”

  Private First Class--a warrior who has been a warrior for at least one year or has impressed his superiors in order to be “step-promoted”

  Sergeant--The first step in supervision, a Sergeant always has at least one “troop” that is his responsibility; Sergeants are normally given no more than ten troops. Warriors must be in the military for three years before gaining the rank of sergeant unless they are step- promoted. They supervise one to ten soldiers.

  Lieutenant--When a Sergeant goes before a council of Captains for promotion to Lieutenant, he is given the choice between leaving the military (still remaining in the guild) or signing a contract for commission as an officer in his Kingdom’s military. This yearly contract is reevaluated every two years. As an officer, he will be saluted by all other military. A lieuten- ant is not a direct supervisor, but he still holds rank over others and can give orders. The only way to be step-promoted to Lieutenant is to master the Gauntlet far above your peers as a recruit. Commands from one to one hundred soldiers.

  Captain--Warriors must have at least five levels of warrior class to be chosen for this rank. He commands up to one thousand soldiers.

  Major--A warrior must have at least seven levels of warrior class to be chosen for this rank. Majors command up to ten thousand soldiers.

  Lieutenant Colonel--Warriors must have at least eight levels of warrior class to be chosen for this rank. They command up to 100,000 soldiers.

  Colonel- you must have at least nine levels of warrior class to be chosen for this rank. They command up to 1,000,000 soldiers.

  General--Warriors must have at least ten levels of warrior class to be chosen for this rank. They command an entire army.

  Race/Class Summary

  Below is a summary of races by kingdom, and the guilds they may join. Kingdom: Caelsis

  Am Mayim’: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Rogue, Warrior Kat-Ken: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Nepsah: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Remmy: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior

  Kingdom: Emerald Forest

  Remmy: Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Yaarma: Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior

  Kingdom: Loefel Meren

  Akana: Aristocrat, Commoner, Magi, Rogue, Warrior Gabad: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Miyka: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior

  Kingdom: Marasimlah

  Daqad: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi (exiled from Marasimlah if chosen), Rang

  er,

  Rogue (exiled from Marasimlah if chosen), Warrior

  Kingdom: Philos

  Adam: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Akana: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Am Mayim’: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Rogue, Warrior Daqad: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Gabad: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Kat-Ken: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Miyka: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Nepsah: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Raphad: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Warrior Remmy: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior Showrad: Bard, Commoner, Ranger, Warrior

  Yaarma: Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior

  Kingdom: Suchikos

  Adam: Aristocrat, Bard, Commoner, Magi, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior

  CHAPTER 3

  PLAYING THE GAME A character for Soterion is fundamentally no different from a character in a book or a movie. The difference is that you, as a player, are thrust into the role of your favorite actor. You determine the character’s “persona” and determine what choices the character makes. The role of the Game Master is to tell the story and provide the structure of the game. All characters consist of attributes and skills. Attributes define the “body” of the character while skills define what the character can accomplish.

  Soterion utilizes eight-sided dice

  (hereafter referred to as “d8”) to drive game

  mechanics. These are used for determining

  attributes, skill successes, or anything else

  necessary for game play. Specifically, we use

  the “Aces and Eights” gaming system. Num-

  bers in front of the d8 designation indicate

  how many d8 are rolled to determine the “sum

  total” of a roll. The sum total is defined as the

  total numeric roll of all d8 rolled combined.

  Example: John is asked to roll 3d8 to deter

  mine his character’s attribute. He rolls 3

  eight-sided dice and receives a 5, 4, and 6.

  The sum total of the roll is 15.

  PRINCIPALS OF ACES AND EIGHTS

  The game mechanics are designed to be

  simple and uniform. Narrators are always free to adjust the rules to fit the style of play, the experience of the players, or other factors that assist the flow of the game. In principal, any rule changes or modification should not contradict the Principals of Aces and Eights. Those principals are:

  Principal 1: The game mechanics are run by rolling 3d8 to determine success for failure on all actions, checks, or effects.

  Principal 2: Characters roll 3d8 to determine if the character was successful at performing the skill or attribute check.

  Principal 3: For skills and attribute checks, natural rolls of 8, 8, 8, are considered an automatic success with the exception of Principal 11.

  Principal 4: For skills and attribute checks, natural rolls of 2, 2, 2, are considered an automatic failure. Principal 5: Base target numbers are identified to determine the difficulty of the skill or action as assigned by the Narrator. Base target numbers are as follows: 9/easy (a standard fight on even footing or crafting with a master crafting kit), 15/average (combatants are on uneven footing like loose gravel or rocky terrain or crafting with an exceptional crafting kit), 21/difficult (attacker is attacking with blurred vision or crafting with a good crafting kit), 27/hard (attacker is attacking while disoriented/dizzy or crafting with an average crafting kit), 36/heroic (attacker is attacking while blind or crafting with a poor crafting kit), and 48/impossible (attacker is attacking while blind and in an ice storm or crafting without a crafting kit).

  Principal 6: The target number is reduced by the player’s skill/attribute depending on the action. Principal 7: Natural rolls of 1 and 8 can be re-rolled and added to increase the sum total as follows: One “1” or “8” of the 3d8 can be re-rolled and added to the total for skills/attributes of 1 through 10. Two “1” or “8” of the 3d8 can be re-rolled and added to the total for skills/ attributes of 11 through 20. Three “1” or “8” of the 3d8 can be re-rolled and added to the total for skills/attributes of 21 and higher.

  Principal 8: Combat is based on skill. Principal 9: To determine success with combat, the attacker’s success is determined by setting the target number, reducing the target number by the attacker’s skill, and adding the defender’s defense skills/armor value/attribute modifier/any other Narrator approved adjust- ment.

  Principal 10: All skill/attribute rolls determine the value of success on a 1 point for 1 point ration starting at -5. For combat, this adjusts the damage dealt accordingly (but to no less than 1 point of damage absent
armor). For crafting skills, this number adjusts any modifiers the crafted item may have on a 1 to 1 basis, and adjusts the value of the crafted item by 1 point (starting at -5) and increases the crafted item’s base value on a 1 to 2% basis (starting at

  -10%).

  Principal 11: A character cannot succeed on a skill/attribute roll if the adjusted target number is 49 or higher. This action is considered impossible and overrides principal 2. The only exception is if the player calls “shot in the dark” before the roll. “Shot in the dark” allows the character to re-roll all natural “8” as if the attribute or skill is 21 or higher (see principal 7). If the character succeeds in rolling a full set of “8” (a natural 48 roll) then the character succeeds. This success is always at its most minimal.

  Principal 12: The Narrator has final authority when determining the base target number dif- ficulty. The Narrator is also the final authority on all game issues.

  Game rules will be discussed in greater detail later. First, let’s make a character.

  CHARACTER CREATION The purpose of this section is to assist in the creation of a character. Certain basic rules of the game will be explained along the way so that, by the time we get through this section, the player will have the “body” of the character.

  Step 1: Race Selection

  As stated before, Soterion is rich with diversity. The first step is for a player to determine the character’s race. Please see Chapter One for details on the kingdoms and races. The following is a brief summary for reference:

  RACES

  Yaarma – Tribal cousins of the Miyka who shun cities. Natural abilities: +4 Health, -1 Knowledge, Animal Speak, and Immune to Demoralization

  Remmy – Tiny folk with an inquisitive personality. Natural abilities: +2 Agility, +4 Manual Dexterity, +2 Health, +2 Cognizance. 1d8 Physical Strength, May find any one person or location 1/day.