State of the Patreon: April

Happy Easter

Psi-Wars continues to chug along.  I've personally finished Iteration 6 and started on the next iteration, but you guys will have another month before you see that.  Between that and changing jobs, I've been quite busy (as you can see from the lateness of this post), but I'm still here!

This has been a weaker month for viewership, but not an especially bad one.  More people continue to express interest in Psi-Wars, but I think the current structure of it is causing problems, but hopefully the new structure I'm working on in Iteration 7 will fix that.  You won't see that next month, but it is in the works.

What will you see next month?  Three sample Chapters of the Space Templars aka the Knights of Communion, including:

• The Dark Vigil Chapter: the secret protectors of the Keleni Temple Worlds, the gaurdians of forbidden relics of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant, and the secret moral enforcers of a thriving criminal empire.  Their chapter master, a mighty Tarvathim master, is slowly dying, and his successor was murdered in the canals of the bustling city of Maaon on the ocean world of Alhari.
• The Sentries of the Monolith: A lost chapter founded by the Traitor Revalis White, these Templars guard the Eldoth homeworld of Sepulcher, ensuring that dread race never rises again to terrorize the galaxy.  Their young new chapter master seeks to initiate a crusade against the Cybernetic Union to avenge her fallen master, but factions within the chapter fret about her use of forbidden technologies and her openly heretical brother.
• The Far Striders: These pilgrim-escorts already lurked on the rim of the Galaxy when the death throes of the Alexian Empire consumed that august order.  Now they lurk among the population, disguised as humble beggars, continuing their good work of protecting the religious from the depredations of bandits and villains, while their missing master has left them with a quest to seek the holy relics of Isa the Exile, while his presumptive heir and ally to Nova Sabine seeks to reunite the Templars and throw their strength against the Empire.

These chapters will be as detailed as the Houses of the Alliance, including major personalities, new relics, unique martial arts or styles, and details on what virtues and styles they make use of.

Last month, the most popular posts, setting aside the Primer, were:

1. The Heterodox Virtues of True Communion: One of my favorite posts as well: the Orthodox virtues ground True Communion, but these virtues make things interesting, and provide pretty neat bonuses as well!
2. Templar Martial Arts: You guys have been waiting for this, no doubt.  While I see the Templars as regularly using the same martial arts as the Alliance, they have their own, deeper, more powerful techniques too.  The Serene Form will likely change in the future, though.  I discovered the Reflective modifier for DR, which suggests that bolt deflection should be free, rather than requiring an action.  I'll look into that at a later time, though.
3. The Knights of Communion and their Chapters: This is really meant more as a means of understanding how to build your own chapters, similar to how my discussion of Alliance houses was meant as a way to build your own houses.  If you liked this, you'll love the three chapters.
4. Keleni Martial Arts: I'm not surprised that the Keleni aren't as popular as the Templars: after all, True Communion's big draw is that it lets you play not-Jedi.  The Keleni just offer a background explaining the origins of Communion and a natural, go-to group for your master atop a mountain.  Still, it's nice to see some of you exploring their kung fu.
5. Orthodox Virtues of True Communion: Similar to Keleni martial arts, I'm not surprised that these are less popular than the Heterodox Virtues, as they're less "interesting," but nonetheless still important, and thus I'm pleased to see that you guys like them too.

Patreon Preview: the Eldoth

Three major alien races have defined the history of Psi-Wars; thus far, I've referred to them via placeholder names, but slowly, each has received a preview as I've worked out their details and designs: the "Communion Aliens" became the Keleni, and the "Sexy Space Vampires" became the Ranathim.  Now, the last enormously influential race, the "Monolith" get their preview as the Eldoth.

They built the first galactic empire while waging war to some ancient, galactic menace.  They shattered the Keleni temple worlds and scattered the Keleni people in their first diaspora. The terror of their rule helped coalesce the Ranathim Empire, and the Ranathim stole thanatokinesis from the Eldoth to create the Gaunt race.  Though the Ranathim broke their empire and destroyed their race, they live on, slumbering in their regeneration sarcaophogi.  Their interstellar "Deep Engine" continues to hum in strange, monolithic ruins.  The last house of the Alliance, the Tan-Shai, draw their power from ancient Eldothic secrets, and the Templar Chapter, the Sentries of the Monolith, guard the Eldothic homeworld of Sepulcher to ensure the dread race never rises again.

This preview is available to $3+ (Companion) patrons.  If you're a patron, check it out!  If not, as always, we love to have you.  Happy Patron week, and thanks for your support!

The Knights of Communion and their Chapters

Long ago, the Knights of Communion formed the first Knightly Order of the Galaxy. The Maradonian knights that made up its ranks gave up aristocracy and the Akashic Mysteries to pursue a crusade to liberate the Temple Worlds of the Keleni. For an age, they protected those worlds, unmasked the criminal conspiracies of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant and then fell in a war against the Alexian Empire in which they slew the last Alexian Emperor.

The Knights of Communion, or the Templars, may have fallen as an order, but they still existed. In truth, the Order had always been comprised of multiple smaller chapters, each of which served a local temple. The defeat of the Templars did not destroy the order, only scattered it and drove it underground. Many Chapters fell in the ensuing chaos, caught up in reprisals by the Cult or by last Emperor’s pogrom, but many slipped away and vanished in the shadows where they carefully watched and cultivated the growing Federation, offered their assistance secretly to the remaining temples of Communion, guarded the Temple Worlds from the shadows, and protected the lost secrets of the Templar Order.

They remain in the Galaxy to this day. Some have strayed far from their original roots and have fallen into heresy or “innovative” True Communion doctrines. Others have had to sacrifice their more knightly ways in the name of secrecy and the material means necessary to keep their orders alive. All are aware that the rise of the Emperor, the dominion of their traditional enemy, the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant, and the threat posed by the Coming Storm. All stand ready to act, stepping forth from the shadows to create a new age of prosperity and harmony, if that is what Communion will.s

The Temples of True Communion

Sci-fi Temple Ruins by Robert Brown

True Communion stands in a strange position, at once one of the most popular philosophies of the Galaxy, but at the same time, reviled by the elites of both Empire and Alliance; it is a closeted philosophy, one that many adhere to, but few willingly admit. Even in its heyday, True Communion had little true hierarchy: only when the Keleni Temple-Worlds had total independence and the Keleni were united as one people, one nation, beneath their royal dynasty, did True Communion begin to look like a truly united philosophy. Instead, when one seeks to find adherents of True Communion, one finds scattered communes and communities, usually of lower class individuals, who gain their spiritual guidance from a nearby temple.

A Temple represents the core of the True Communion faith for a local community; its abbot represents the highest spiritual authority that they know. True Communion builds its temples in naturally occurring “holy places,” which tend to be found in remote, uncivilized regions. There, they seek to condense that spirituality into the heart of the temple, where Eloi Fragments can form. They also gather relics and philosophical lore for any who seek them. Ultimately, the purpose of a temple is to provide a safe haven for sacred things, and a place where those who wish to learn the ways of True Communion can go and discover themselves in peace.

Despite this, most temples end up acting as a central hub of religion for the locals. Though they must travel far (or the temple must come to them, often sending priests to look out for the local faithful), people regularly bid the monks of the temple to give them blessings, knowledge, healing, guidance and to officiate their ceremonies. Thus, temples become the secret hearts of the community of the True Communion faithful.

Templar Martial Arts

New Weapons

The Psionic Force Sword (the Resonance Sword)

When the Templars first came to the Temple Worlds of the Keleni, they brought with them the force-screen based technology of the force sword, which have a sleek, glass-like look to their blades, as they are formed from finely sharp and destructive force screens. This technology worked nothing like the Psi-Blades and Psi-Swords native to the Dark Arm of the Galaxy, with their intense light and diffuse blades. Over time, the Templars learned to combine both technologies, creating their signature blades which with a jewel-like appearance burning with an inner energy.

Treat a Resonance Sword as a Force Sword with half their normal damage, plus one die per 10 points of psionics abilities from the best single power the character has. The character may add his Talent for that power to damage, and may apply the special effect appropriate for the power currently energizing the blade from page 39 of Pyramid #3/51. A Resonance Sword has an armor divisor of 5 or the armor divisor listed in his special effect whichever is better.

A Resonance Sword must be constructed with an Eloi Fragment or a Psuedo Fragment. A Resonance Sword is double the cost of a Force Sword (that is, CF +1). Fine or Very Fine Resonance Blades do not improve damage, but instead improve the character’s Talent for the power currently empowering the blade (which also effectively increases the damage of the blade); +1 for Fine Resonance Blades, +2 for Very Fine Resonance Blades.

The Psionic Arts of Communion

Traditional Keleni Healing Arts (Jalteran) 5 points

King Kashekim Nedakh by DrMistyTang

Jalteran refers to a specific guild of healers within the Keleni culture, thus referring to their preferred style of healing would be like calling Western medicine “Doctoring,” but nonetheless the word has stuck around. Jalteran is the unique practice of “folk healing” that the Keleni have been practicing for centuries and has become virtually synonymous with True Communion, to the point that those who practice the art might even call the location of practice a “temple,” and those who regularly attend for treatments might refer to themselves as “Followers of Communion.” Some healers embrace this, and also hold religious services on the side or act as mentors, while genuine Communion temples will also learn Jalteran to fulfill the dual expectations of those who come to their temple.

The Keleni healing arts derive their premise from the core principle that the physical is just a manifestation of the mental; this means that the health of the body is ultimately a reflection of the health of the mind. To purge someone of an illness requires that person to at least calm their mind and find harmony between their conscious mind and the subconscious id that rules their physical manifestation.

The most common forms of treatment are meditative. The healer first diagnosis the illness and what might be causing it; such diagnoses are often abstract, but some Keleni healers are astute psychologists and can find genuine psychological issues that the patient currently suffers from. Next, the healer guides the patient through meditative exercises, teaching them to turn their eye inward and calm whatever inner turmoil they have to better improve their physical state. To facilitate this, some healers learn the art of massage and interior decoration (creating a calm space will help create a calm mind). What effects this has tends to be questionable and ultimately depend on what the GM will allow Esoteric Medicine to do: it will certainly helps heal psychic issues (such as psychic crippling) and curing diseases that are psychic in origin as well as physician would cure the physical equivalent; for physical ailments, it generally does little more than provide a +1 to HT rolls to naturally recover.

While not required to learn the Keleni healing arts, most Keleni who practice them also study the Psychic Healing power, something Keleni naturally excel at. By putting the patient in a meditative state, they have a far easier time practicing their craft and their study of esoteric, psychic principles prevent them from ruining their target’s psyche or body during delicate procedures. Their near miraculous ability to heal nearly any problem via psychic healing contributes to the belief that anyone who engages in the trappings of the Jalteran will be as effective, which has led to a reputation of quackery. Rumors also persist of Jalteran sages who can cure aging and are thus both immortal and capable of granting that immortality to others. At the GM’s discretion, this can be true! But even if it is not, the perception of its truth drives many a wealthy or powerful man to seek out the finest Jalteran physician.

Keleni practitioners of Jalteran often have the honorific suffix -alta added to their name.

Required Skills: Diagnosis, Esoteric Medicine, Meditation, Philosophy (True Communion).

Additional Psionic Skills: Aura Reading, Cure, Disease Shield

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength, Pressure Points

Secret Psionic Skills: Life Extension

Techniques: Introspective Ceremony

Perks: Auric Squint, Healing Bond, Healing Massage, Healthy Decoration, Meditative Massage, Secret Power (Life Extension, up to level 2), Sacred Healing, Soothing Touch, Stabilizing Skill (Psychic Healing, Esoteric Medicine), Wishful Medicine,

Optional Advantages: Psychic Healing Talent, Sensitive or Empathy

Optional Disadvantages: Charitable, Disciplines of Faith (Asceticism or Mysticism), Delusion (“Holistic medicine can cure anything”), Reputation (Quack)

Optional Skills: Artist (Interior Decorating), Exorcism, Expert Skill (Psionic), Teaching, Professional Skill (Massage), Psychology

Traditional Keleni Martial Arts

New Weapons

The Resonance Staff

Jarael by Artpox

Ancient Keleni had long ago mastered many of the arts of psionic resonance, which allowed the wielder of a weapon or item to “attune” his psychic powers to the item. This might allow him to power the item or imbue it with an element of his own power. They called this technology “resonance,” and a resonant item has an aura, invisible to mundane senses, flowing around it.

A resonance staff is the most common application of this technology. It seems a standard staff, though it tends to be made either of a nano-tube cellulose that is “grown” for the purpose of forming a resonance staff, or made of a metallic nanocomposite. All forms have an embedded eloi fragment or a pseudo-fragment that can attune the weapon with the user. Once so attuned, the staff acts as an extension of the wielder: what the staff touches (or strikes) counts as “touched” by the user for the purpose of psionic powers. This has numerous combat applications: see the Resonance Charge ability below. Second, the aura around the weapon can be “hardened” to dissipate destructive forces. This means that energy weapons, such as force swords, can be parried without damaging the weapon, similar to the effect a neurolash-field can have on a force sword. See Resonance-Field Parry below.

Treat a Resonance Staff as a Quarterstaff, with a CF of +9 and an additional flat cost of $500 (thus a resonance quarterstaff costs $600). Add bonus damage to all strikes equal to the wielder’s best psionic talent.

The Psi-Blade

Where Keleni resonant weaponry had originally been for self-defense, with the Eldothic invasion of their homeworld, some Keleni repurposed the technology for greater lethality, so that they could murder their enemies. They created the first “psi-blades,” a technology described on page 39 of Pyramid #3/51 “Tech and Toys,” that allowed them to manifest their psychic energy as a purely destructive force.

Treat a Psi-Sword as described in the article above (with the same weight, cost, reach and other traits as a force sword) except that its damage is equal to +1d for every 10 points of appropriate psionic ability, with bonus damage equal the wielder’s talent, and with an armor divisor of 5 or the armor divisor noted in the appropriate psychic ability whichever is better.

Keleni traditionally created smaller weapons, such as the Psi-Blade, which is more comparable to a long knife than a sword. Treat Psi-Blades as using the same rules as Psi-Swords (but with the same weight, cost, reach and other traits as a force blade, from UT page 166), but its damage is +1d for every 12.5 points of appropriate psionic ability (or +2d for every 25 points) and bonus damage equal to the wielder’s talent.

The Heterodox Virtues of True Communion

No! My heresy is just beginning!

Comprehending the fullness of True Communion lies beyond the reach of any single individual. While the three orthodox virtues capture perfectly the three paths of True Communion some among the practitioners of True Communion argue that they do not capture the totality of the virtues of True Communion or, perhaps, that they are but lesser virtues or distractions from the true virtues of Communion. The practitioners of Traditional Communion naturally have a low opinion of such attitudes and note that such heresy became rampant in the Knights of Communion shortly before their demise, but those who adhere to these heterodox Virtues seem to achieve genuine connection with True Communion in new and innovative ways!

Treat Heterodox virtues as identical to Orthodox virtues except for social attitudes. They may present a risk to the saint who adheres to them, but orthodox virtues have a similar risk in dogmatic devotion to ancient ideals. Importantly, following a Heterodox Virtue is not a violation of True Communion, nor a one-way ticket to a fallen state and becoming bound by Dark or Broken Communion.

The Knights of Communion have lost much since their fall, and the lingering chapters often only have a fragment of the original truths of Communion, and may have picked up new and innovative (or “heretical”) ideas about what true unity with Communion involves! Most such chapters have access to one or two Heterodox virtues!

Heterodox Virtues are not “invented” but “discovered,” usually through intense philosophical study and deep, meditative introspection. A GM who wishes to allow players to explore new heterodox virtues might use the invention system, with the governing skill being Philosophy; any such virtue is an Amazing “invention.”

The Orthodox Virtues of True Communion

A true master of Communion seems nigh divine in power, but this unstoppable power comes not from their command of Communion, but their unity with it. Its will is their will, and they are a living manifestation of Communion itself.

To achieve this level of oneness requires a deep mastery of the very nature of Communion, called virtues by the True Communion philosophy. After a student has learned to Commune with the infinite cosmic, their master begins to teach them one of the virtues of True Communion. At first, such a virtue seems limiting, requiring the student to strictly control their behavior, but eventually, as their behavior perfectly aligns with a virtue, they find that their facility with Communion grows and expands and they begin to manifest miraculous abilities within themselves. This is the source of the true power of all the great masters of Communion.

The True Communion faith has splintered under the weight of oppression. Without a singular guiding figure or doctrine, most followers of Communion turn to a local temple and a local abbot for spiritual guidance. However, each temple emphasizes its preferred facet of True Communion. Mastery of a virtue is the internal, spiritual equivalent to mastering a martial art or a powerful psionic skill: no living master of Communion has mastered every Virtue, and indeed, temples disagree as to which virtues should be mastered! As such, while all True Communion faithful accept the same basic precepts, the specifics and the depth of their devotion to particular values vary greatly. This can create conflict between temples, thus far little more than hurled accusations of heresy or dogmatic literalism, but on the other hand, some devotees to True Communion believe wisdom comes from a multitude of perspectives. Modern masters often take to wandering from temple to temple, learning the unique principles found in the scattered remnants of the faith and try to weave together a better understanding of the totality of Communion through the experience.