BLACK SUN II: The Wardens

In the BLACK SUN I post, I went over the broad background of the setting. This time I want to hone in on the how our characters will be interacting with the background and setting.

This requires some slight changes. Characters in Stars Without Number are fragile (and often desperate). To change this to something more in line with the setting as imagined, the PCs will come from the ranks of the Wardens rather than the desperate space scoundrels of vanilla SWN. I want the Wardens to be the pseudo-immortal avatars of the strange entity that is the BLACK SUN. Disconnected in so many ways from the world they were brought back to protect, yet so closely bound to its fate.

Destiny's Guardian concept art is gorgeous

Forgotten Slumber to Eternal Servitude

During the End and the centuries that followed, the Sol System was a slaughter house. From ~50 billion humans that had conquered the entire system to only ~0.1% of that being alive by the time the current campaign is set (around the year 2986). From the immense ranks of the ancient dead, the BLACK SUN reaches out and reincarnates those it deems worthy as its Chosen avatars.

So what happens when one of the dead is Chosen? Their corpse (or what's left of it) courses with viscus and black energy that grows and shifts into their new body. This body is mechanically equivalent to the Prime Shell in the core book. What's left of this ethereal sludge, effectively a fragment of the BLACK SUN, forms into the Soulstone of the Chosen. While their body is near perfection, their mind is far from. Their memories of their past lives exist only as hazy echoes and faint whispers, with only their skills and instincts remaining sharp and focused. As such, newly Chosen are effectively blank slates and highly impressionable. (Among the Wardens, pursuit of knowledge about past lives is taboo at best and outright forbidden at worst. The Regents haven't given an explicit reason for this.)

A Chosen can manifest their Soulstone as an On Turn action. If a character is reduced to zero hit points, it will automatically manifest over them and emit flairs of black and slime-like energy, automatically stabilizing the body. It is particularly vulnerable and noticeable during this state and can be targeted. It will survive anything short of a direct attempt to destroy them with a Heavy weapon or similar destructive force/situation. The Chosen's body follows normal rules and will die if further damage is inflicted, leaving the Soulstone to be recovered. The Soulstone can be transferred between BLACK SUN forged bodies, but more on that weird and occult process later.

Wardens have a weakness for personalization and customization of gear

The Wardens 

Almost all of the Wardens in the system pledge their potent skills to the Redoubt. These are the Chosen that have followed the call in the back of their minds to the BLACK SUN or have been picked up by a Reclamation Unit from whatever pit they awoke to. They have defended the Redoubt and the BLACK SUN for centuries with no end in sight. They handle the governing of the Redoubt as well as the coordination of military operations and discovery expeditions in the ruins of the system. The Wardens are divided into five factions called Regenices. Wardens almost exclusively make up the higher ranks of these factions, but there are rare exceptions. Each of these groups is lead by a recognized Regent who sits in the governing council of the Redoubt, the Convergence. The factions are:

• The Garrison, lead by High Commander Yin Song
• Its Wardens are called Guardians. 
• It is the largest of the five Regencies; it was the first to secure the bastion that would become the Redoubt and established the Convergence. 
• See cooperation and unity between Wardens as the key to leading humanity’s survival. 
• Primarily concerned with the Redoubts security, stability, and future.
• Manage and control the Redoubt Defense Force (R.D.F). 
• The Keepers of Infinity, lead by Prime Overseer KOTHAR-7
• Its Wardens are called Keepers.
• An elitist technocracy which looks to reclaim Prosperity Era technologies. 
• Maintain, control, and operate the Greater Grail and lesser Grails in the Redoubt.
• Resent reckless or careless use of resources and tech. 
• New Eternity Cult, lead by Black Hierophant Ilios Morn 
• Its Wardens are called Cultists
• Spiritual leaders of the Redoubt
• Warrior-scholars who revere and develop the powers of the BLACK SUN.
• Study MES, SANIS, Souls, psitech, and arcanotech development.  
• Freelancers, lead by Captain Carlos Arellano
• Its Wardens are called Lancers. 
• Value personal freedom and cooperation. 
• Want to protect and serve humanity, not lead it. 
• Supports outposts and settlement attempts outside of the Redoubt. 
• Outer Reach, lead by Seeker Lord Saladin Cross
• Its Wardens are called Outriders 
• Thrill-seeking explorers, daring pilots, and radical thinkers who largely see Earth itself as a lost cause. 
• Strive to find a new home for humanity and ascend past the miracles of the Prosperity Era by any means. 
• Have contacts in the Verge. 

The other notable groups in the Redoubt are the R.D.F. and the Hand. The R.D.F. being the mortal miliary of the Redoubt and the Hand being the elite cadre of Wardens that serve the Convergence directly. 

But mean bastards you need to hang

The Lost and Forlorn

Not all Chosen stay or even become Wardens in the Sol System. For some reason or another, certain Wardens abandon their eternal vigil or don't get picked up by a Reclamation Unit. These Chosen largely fall into two groups: Rouge Wardens and Outsiders. 

Rouge Wardens are those that abandon their duties to the BLACK SUN and pursue their own wants and desires with their powers. Some pursue dangerous maltech, others even more power, and some even offer their services to dark powers and alien conquerors in their conquests against humanity. 

Outsiders are those Chosen who shun the way of the Wardens but still use their abilities to protect humanity. Rumors speak of them actually being an organized collective with a shard of the BLACK SUN itself. Such rumors are obviously false. 

Without access to the support of the Redoubt, both of these groups resort to alternative means to ensure they are equipped to tackle the dangers of the system. More on both of these groups will come later.

Outsiders roaming the ruins of humanity