Synoro Intro - 2022

Situation overview

Welcome to the wilds of the great, western continent of Tria, one of the galaxy’s few, stubbornly Independent worlds. Home to a vast array of deadly flora, fauna, and other enhanced monstrosities, these wilds are also known to possess large quantities of the galaxy’s most valuable organisms, simply known as Symbiotes. Entrepreneurs, governments, and corporations are all keen to press deeper into the heart of the continent in search of this bio-mass, hiring anyone and everyone to brave the dangers therein in search of this prize.

Truths about the world

• Symbiotes are mysterious creatures that are somehow able to manipulate extra dimensions of reality to create unnatural (some might consider, supernatural) effects.
• All governments and regulatory agencies agree that bonding directly to a symbiote is dangerous and individuals are at high risk of becoming corrupted and losing their own agency should they do so
• Sterilized and processed Symbiote bio-mass is the basis for most of the galaxy’s technology and, as such, is incredibly valuable
• The wilds of the western continent (also known as the Impenetrable Hinterland) seem to spawn countless aggressive species of both plants and beast making survival on the frontier a dangerous proposition

Where the adventure begins...

You begin in the small mining settlement of Synoro on the very edge of the frontier between civilization and the untamed wilds. Founded by the Astral Depths Mining Co, the town exists as a staging area to mine symbiotic bio-mass from the nearby Phoenix Tree: a gargantuan tree growing in the centre of a kilometer wide crater. It reaches two hundred and fifty meters into the sky and with its branches of yellow, orange, and magenta leaves stretching out almost double that distance from the trunk.
It is near this settlement that a new, terrible discovery has been unearthed: a once-derelict outpost, belonging to a long-vanished and feared species called the Yesk, has recently been reactivated and is working towards some unknown purpose.

Factions/Patrons Seeking Adventurers

• Synoro Security Corps (relatively neutral, the face of Astral Depths Mining Co) - Seeking intel about the Yesk outpost for the continued safety of the local mining operations and Synoro citizens.
• Dornas Takmoot (respected delegate on the Synoro Council) - Looking to employ adventurers to discreetly recover exotic technology for his personal collection.
• Knott's Berry Pharmaceuticals (human-led corporation base on the southern coast of the continent) - Seeking news about their two scientists who had gone missing at the site of the outpost.
• An unknown, anonymous figure - Seeking a very specific, inoccuous artifact expected to be deep within the outpost and offering a very large paycheck for its safe delivery, or a more modest one if you return empty handed.

Your Character

You will start the adventure as a Level 3 character. At some point in December (or more likely, early January) it would be great to get together for a night to build characters as a group. This will likely take 2.5-ish hours. Below is a brief summary of the playable races and classes that you can choose from. There's no pressure to choose anything before we get together, I just wanted to give an outline in case any character ideas jumped out at you, to get your creative juices flowing.

Races (Species)

• Human: Just your run of the mill human beings, somehow lost in another galaxy...
• Trian: A race of industrious gnomes who pride their independence
• Feln: Bipedal catfolk bent on expansion and colonization for the good of the homeworld
• Vinuul: Near-indestructible, orcish folk, prominent member species of the Galactic Coalition
• Ave: A variety of bird folk that maintain elvish airs about them
• Euso: Hive mind collectives that function as a single organism
• Daerpon: A variety of lizard folk that pervade the independent systems
• Tenna: Human-sized ant creatures, deeply passionate about family and lineage

Classes

Largely Unpowered

Generally Accepted by Civilized Society

• Fighter

  Strength (STR) or Dexterity (DEX) based class. More hit points (HP), shield, armor, and weapon proficiencies.

  Possibly the most diverse class of characters, fighters can come from a wide variety of backgrounds and might pursue adventuring for a wide variety of reasons. Soldiers on a mission, aggressive gang leaders, royal champions, special operative forces, hardened mercenaries, local vigilantes - as fighters, they all share an unparalleled mastery with weapons and armor and a thorough knowledge of the skills of combat. They are also well acquainted with death, both meting it out and staring it defiantely in the face.

• Rogue

  Dexterity (DEX) based class. Mid-range hit points (HP), armor, and weapon proficiencies.

  Rogues rely on skill, stealth, and their foes’ vulnerabilities to get the upper hand in any situation. Often a product of a shady upbringing, but not always, they have a knack for finding the solution to just about any problem, demonstrating a resourcefulness and versatility that is the cornerstone of any successful adventuring party.

Powered Tech

Generally Accepted by Civilized Society

• Heavy

  Strength (STR) based class. More hit points (HP), shield, armor, and weapon proficiencies. Low power availability.

  Whatever their origin or their mission, Heavies are the people you call in when you need an armored vehicle that you can reason with. A Heavy’s specialized training with heavy weapons, armor, and sym-tech make them capable warriors and sturdy adventurers. While masters of a variety of weapons and armor, their martial skills are secondary to the symbiotic power Heavies wield with their various sym-tech items and armour upgrades. They can skillfully use these devices to provide rapid healing of injured allies, to pump some extra damage into their enemies, and to protect the innocent and/or those who join them on their path.

• Sym-Tech Engineer

  Intelligence (INT) based class. Mid-range hit points (HP), shield, armor, and power availability. Fewer weapon proficiencies.

  Although there are many fields or engineering, Sym-Tech Engineers rise above their more mundane colleagues as they are masters of integrating symbiotic gel into pieces of equipment and technology as a means of safely harnessing a Symbiote's reality-bending capabilities. These individuals understand the practical science of extradimensional powers and have the means and skill to program these complex instructions into their symbiotic-gel-integrated gear.

Powered Individual

Generally Feared by Civilized Society

• Academic

  Intelligence (INT) based class. Low hit points (HP) and few weapon proficiencies. No armor but high power availability.

  Academics, as an adventuring class, are more than your average university's scholar or scientist as they have bonded to a symbiote, whether by accident or design, and have gained access to reality bending powers. These individuals are able to leverage their deep knowledge of their fields of study into clear, precise instructions to their symbiote on how to alter the fundamental building blocks and processes on which the universe appears to run which enable an unparalleled level of control, scope, and/or power over their symbiotic abilities when compared to other symbiotic hosts.

• Protégé

  Charisma (CHA) based class. Low to mid-range hit points (HP), weapon, and armor proficiencies. Mid-range power availability.

  A Protégé is a type of symbiotic host with far less formal training than an Academic or other more professional classes. Instead, a Protégé is host to a Symbiote that has been imprinted with a copy of the consciousness of a previous, highly skilled and otherwise very powerful individual. Somewhat at the mercy of what the embedded individual is willing to share with them, a Protégé's abilities can range from minor but permanent alterations to their physiology (such as enhanced night vision or enhanced linguistic capabilities) to access to high level symbiotic abilities without requiring the vast education that most Academics would need to achieve the same results. Unlike Academics, a Protégé will often supplement their use of symbiotic powers and abilities with the use of some sort of weapon. They are comfortable in light armor and know how to use simple weapons.

• Zealot

  Charisma (CHA) based class. Low to mid-range hit points (HP) and weapon proficiencies. No armor but higher end of mid-range power availability.

  Through intense training and conditioning, sometimes tied to personality cults, political movements, or similar, a Zealot's deep rooted and unwavering beliefs about how the universe should function are what activates their powers. Rather than using the intricate formulae of an Academic or Sym-Tech Engineer, a Zealot is simply convinced that they can bend a symbiote to their will and do, in fact, use this faith and determination as a shortcut to communicate to their symbiote about how to warp reality. Although their powers are considered to be less refined or sophisticated than those rooted in more scientific backgrounds, they are by no means less effective. Case in point, since they are not bound by such rigid scientific systems, a Zealot is able to willfully employ their more narrow power set in more creative ways than traditional Academics.

Motivation to join party

Seeking out a life on the frontier means you don't mind a bit of danger and are looking to make good money quickly. It's easier to manage the first and do more of the second as a group. Maybe you've all worked together before or maybe you've been brought together by the faction/patron who has given the party its assignment. Maybe you're running away from something in your character's past and want to blend into a new group to hide. We can discuss the more specific motivations for each character as we build them together.

Safety Tools

* Reminder to include later/discuss during character creation.

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