Vesper Tane 3.0, the Ultimate Dark Space Knight

Vesper Tane serves two purposes.  First, of course, he's going to be our big bad for our final playtest.  We don't need to stat out a big bad, of course.  We can just declare what they have, and to an extend I'll do just that: He's gathered a band of Empire-hating, revolutionary pirates to his cause and, of course, he has both M'elena's loyalty and her heart.

But I also want to get a feel for whether or not 300 points is enough.  One way to do that is to look at a more expensive space knight.  At 350 points, Vesper was already a fairly convincing space knight, but what might a space knight look like at 400 points?  If I continued, I'd probably go into what a 500 point space knight looked like, but if I'm honest, it would likely be more of the same: more Communion, more Psionic powers, more Martial Arts.  There's plenty to explore in those, of course, but I don't see what 500 points would show us that 400 points doesn't already.

So, what does 400 points of space knight look like?  Well, in addition to the Communion powers he gained last time, we've added Psionic Force Swordmanship, which is what I wanted him to start with.  He's not actually any better with the Force Sword, as most of his skill has focused entirely on mastering his now considerable TK of 12, giving him a TK-Control of 18, with Beat at 20 and Jam at 15, giving him a rather nuanced power.  I've removed TK-Tether (his force sword now does that automatically) and replaced it with Grip Mastery.  I've also given him Contact-TK, to explore the idea of that as a perk.  This means when he's not using his TK, he can have +3 to his ST "for free."

Playtest 2: Vesper Tane vs Criminals (and M'Elena)

If we have all of these wonderful mooks at our disposal, we should use some!  How well can Vesper Tane (and most Space Knights) stand up against a set of mooks?  I'd expect him to be pretty handy against them, especially low level ones like criminals.  But how many is a good number?  Let's go for 7: 5 criminal goons, an Enforcer and a Bruiser.  I expect that he should be able to defeat them fairly handily, but I'm curious how well.

Furthermore, I'd like to introduce M'Elena to Vesper Tane, get her finally working for him, but I'm also curious how well an assassin will function against a space knight.  Granted, M'Elena is 300 points and Vesper is 350, but I wouldn't expect that to be an absolutely dominating difference.  Given that she doesn't have psionic powers, will he be stronger or weaker?  Are his points "wasted points"  and he'd be better off focusing entirely on martial arts over psionic powers and communion, or will they serve him well?

Vesper Tane, Dark Space Knight 2.0

The point of exploring Vesper Tane in such detail is multi-fold. First, by expanding him to 350 points and then 400, I get an idea of how well the power-up system works as a basis for experience. Of course, ideally heroes will purchase bits and pieces piecemeal rather than at 50 point chunks, but this should give us an idea of what building up a character. It will also give me an idea of 300 points is enough. Is 400 points closer to what players expect a real space knight to be like?

So, this is Vesper Tane after he has completed his training. He has gained a connection with Communion, though he has turned to the dark side of the Id. His drive to destroy the Empire has made the Path of the Rebellious Beast profoundly tempting. He embraces the Id because he believes that the destruction of the Empire is necessary and worth the sacrifice to the ravening, bestial greed of the id. His study has given him Dark Communion 6, unlocked his Destiny to bring down the (an?) Empire, and his Legendary Reputation for the Rebellious Beast, as well has helped him learn about the very nature of Communion itself, which explains the conscious choice to walk the Path of the Rebellious Beast. To do so, he must rearrange his disadvantages. He no longer directly serves his Space Knight order: For walking the path of the Rebellious Beast, Master Kimon threw him out, and Rafari has turned his back on him, even if Vesper Tane refuses to turn his back on them. His nightmares have cleared up now that that his connection with Dark Communion has solidified into something he can control, and that he understands his true purpose in the Galaxy. To funnel his power, he has built his hatred of the Empire into full-blown Intolerance, and the Rebellious Beast begins to seep into his mind, manifesting as an easy-to-control Bad Temper.

Playtest 1: Rafari vs Vesper Tane

Remnants I - Savage Marauder by Squiddy Treat

The first playtest I want to do is two space knights duking it out.  A force sword battle in Psi-Wars should feel like a lightsaber duel in star wars.  Does it?  For this reason, I created two new space knights, Vesper Tane and Rafari, each with their own unique style and their own unique psionic focus.  I envision the scene as a friendly practice duel under the tutelage of a master, but the intent is clear; Can two space knights duke it out in an appropriately cinematic fashion?

Vesper Tane, Dark Space Knight 1.1

Vesper Tane, eventually, is going to be the Big Bad of the coming ultimate Iteration 4 playtest, but he also gives us a chance to see if we can make a decent "dark" psi-knight on 300 points. He’s an outcast, a criminal and a pirate, who has seen the dark side of the Empire, and his growing (but not yet controlled) connection with Communion manifests in nightmares that spur him forward to rid the galaxy of the Empire forever.

With a Psi-Knight, you really need to pick what direction you’re going to go in, and I chose psionic power over Martial Arts for Vesper. TK-Control at level 8 might not seem like much (a basic lift of 7), but he can effortlessly move a rifle and Push a person over, and with his phenomenal Will of 16, he can afford, to boost his TK-Control to 11 (on a 12 or less), and with serious effort (say, 6 fatigue), he can afford to boost it to 17, which means he can be much stronger than the average person for about a minute, should he need to be.

I had originally chosen Psionic Forceswordmanship, but that style needs even greater focus on TK-Grab or TK-Control than I am able to give with the template. So I’ve shifted to the Destructive form, which suits a more brutal concept. He seems competent enough: His will and Psychokinesis give him skill 17 in Power-Blow, which is terrifying, and he has (like most psi-knights) a Parry of 13, which is on par with his Precognitive Parry. Between the two, he has a fairly reasonable chance of parrying with a 14 or less against other melee opponents, and 13 or less against blasters. A few points in Beat has given him skill enough to batter down most of his opponent’s, and it would be nice to give him Dirty Fighting, but I lack the necessary points. Later, perhaps.

Is Vesper Tane good enough as a starting character to impress a player?  Yes.  He still has plenty of room to grow, but I think he manages to fit enough power into a template to be a believable space knight.  He also shows enough contrast with Rafari that I think the template is sufficiently flexible.

This actually the second edit of Vesper Tane, to better include Signature Moves (as they're fundamental to this iteration).