BOOK OF THE EMPRESS -- New Character Preview

Steve Long · February 9, 2012

Howdy Herophiles! Time for another BotE update.

I’ve finally finished creating all 14 of the characters based on ideas provided to me by the Kickstarter backers who pledged $150 or more. As you know, we’re going to lay these characters out Hero-style and then give the PDF of them free to all backers. Since that’s going to take a few days more, I thought y’all might like a little preview of the characters.

Overall I have to say that I was very impressed with the quality of the ideas the backers sent in. They thought of cool backgrounds and unusual powers that sometimes challenged my building skills. I think any GM will have fun using these in his game, and I know I got ideas for several PCs from them.

Not unexpectedly, Battalioneers outnumbered Crusaders of the Infinite Realities more than two to one, but that’s OK — after all, the backers are also getting a PDF of character sheets for six Crusaders (and one time dragon!) as our way of saying thanx! for helping us reach $14,000 in pledges. So that just about brings the numbers even.

So, here’s who you’ll see in that first PDF:

BATTALIONEERS

Astra (based on the ideas of Sean Smiley): One of the few surviving heroes of a species slaughtered by the Empire and now forced to work for it, Astra has the ability to manipulate dimensional energies and structures.

Bo’am Yaar (based on the ideas of Micah Wolfe): A member of the large, super-strong Jar’ani species who wears powered armor and carries an enormous energy rifle into battle.

Falkenrath (based on the ideas of Kyle Welch): A Human from an alternate Earth who has the power to “meld” two points in a dimension.

Magenta Shadow (based on the ideas of Douglas Ohlson): An alien who’s been taken over by a strange, eons-old mystic artifact that grants her energy projection powers to complement her native psionic and precognitive abilities.

Mind Phantom (based on the ideas of David Gettman): A V’hanian with the power to read the surface thoughts of others.

Prism Guardian (based on the ideas of Patrick Jaurion): The superpowered defender of a crystalline species living in a pocket dimension who “sold out” his people to keep the Empress from obliterating them. He works for her while trying to find a way to steal the crystal gateway and save his people, who now despise him.

Solomon (based on the ideas of Robert Towell): A hyper-intelligent Human from an alternate Earth .

Sunburn (based on the ideas of Peter Dodge): A Human from an alternate Earth who has the power to absorb, store, and emit most forms of electromagnetic radiation. He’s often pressed into a combat role though he prefers to serve as a field medic.

The Traveler (based on the ideas of Chris Larkin): An immortal who can teleport on a planetary scale but needs the help of advanced technology to reach other worlds and dimensions.

Turanda (based on the ideas of Paul Atkinson): A super-strong villainess who gave in to despair after her lightning-powered husband and partner-in-crime was killed by the cops and was recruited by the Empress.

CRUSADERS

Crystal Warrior Mirai (based on the ideas of George VanMeter): A Japanese schoolgirl from an alternate Earth whose powers derive from a magic crystal ring given to her by the spirit of an ancient samurai. (I had to temporarily suspend my membership in the Anime Haters Club to write this one up. )

Gargun the Seeker (based on the ideas of Mike Sims): A rebellious, seemingly-brutish member of the First, an ancient magical race, who uses his arcane powers to oppose unjust authority.

Lord Fractal (based on the ideas of Erik Lund): A fallen cosmic lord, robbed of his memories and powers by Istvatha V’han’s trap. He became a crimefighter in Earth-731’s version of the plane of Babylon, using his ability to forge the stuff of Brialic dimensions into enchanted items with which to oppose evil. He now works with the Crusaders... though he doesn’t understand why he hates the Empire so much.

Karama Talis (based on the ideas of James Jandebeur): A merchant from the Ru’anran species who has the power to “trade fortunes” — in other words, buy and sell other peoples’ luck (or his own).

Ranxerox · February 10, 2012