BWB Splat (Reboot)

ROTHERHOOD WITHOUT BANNERS

1. Premise and General Notes
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Brotherhood Without Banners (BWB) is a science fantasy game using FEMTO v2.5. It is a sequel/reboot of the game of the same name. In it, the party will be freelance adventurers carrying out various missions throughout the setting, known as the Solar Empire, in an episodic format. Players are encouraged to create a cohesive party that will be able to tackle a variety of difficult situations, and to switch out characters if they feel like trying something different. No more than five party members will be allowed in this game.

2. Setting Details
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This game takes place in the year 553ATF (After The Fall), 150 years after the original BWB game, details on which can be found here: https://pastebin.com/pf0hnWFi. The former Sun-Moon Empire, now known as the Solar Empire, has expanded due to the increasing prevalence of magic in modern society. This has led to both practicing mages and energy weapons being much more commonplace, the increase in prevalence of intelligent robots, and the expansion from Arks to planets, including the return to Equus, the pony homeworld, which is currently only limited to the new Imperial capital of New Canterlot.

Approximately 30 years before the current day, a rift began to form between Luna and Celestia, the Holy Twins, with the latter publicly voicing her distaste with the current state of the galaxy, expressing her wishes to see radical change in the galaxy. Eventually, public opinion began to sway one side or the other; Celestia's supporters wished to retain the current status quo, while Luna's wished to create a separate offshoot, declaring independence from the Empire.

This resistance eventually escalated into a galactic civil war, now referred to as the Schism, which lasted several years until Celestia's side ultimately emerged victorious at the Battle of Calantha in 535ATF. However, Luna herself was not captured, and she along with a handful of her most ardent supporters fled to the edges of the galaxy. The resulting power imbalance resulted in the former Sun-Moon Empire being renamed the Solar Empire; however, the defeat of Luna at Calantha did not mark the end of the galaxy's troubles, with more and more smaller colonies beginning to rebel against the Empire, causing society as a whole to become divided and eventually begin to show signs of major change.

In the present day, it is a lawless time. The widespread division in public support and the Solar Empire's increasingly brutal regime post-Schism has led to the rise of major crime syndicates and cartels. Celestia herself has not made a public appearance for several years, leading to widespread rumors about her health. Slavery has begun to be an increasingly common practice in some parts of the Empire, and while it is technically outlawed, the rise in galactic crime syndicates has resulted in slaves being a common sight on many Arks.

In addition to these syndicates, the Umarmung Conglomerate, a council of mages that has existed since before the Fall of Equestria, have become an increasingly powerful force in the galaxy, fuelling the progress of magic-powered technology. This gradual rise in the prevalence of magic has led to several major developments; namely, mages themselves being much more commonplace, the terraforming and subsequent colonization of several planets, and, perhaps most importantly, the increasingly common trend of sapient robots. This has risen to the point that several fringe groups are pushing for robot rights in modern society, although for the most part, robots continue to be used as property. Energy weapons too are much more common than they were 150 years ago, and have largely replaced conventional firearms; this came about due to an alliance brokered between Umarmung and the elusive weapons R&D company Pseumion, leading to the mass distribution of energy weapons.

The terraforming of celestial bodies led to the discovery of extraterrestrial life; however, no sapient life has been discovered as of yet. Planets are largely uninhabited outside of the major colonies, including the capital of New Canterlot on Equus. The latter is one of the fastest growing colonies in the galaxy, with an estimated 0.5% of the entire galactic population residing there. The currency used in the Empire has changed from Florins to Sovereigns, although the term space bucks is still commonly used. Mercenary groups are still a prevalent force in the galaxy, although many have disbanded over the years, and none of the heavy hitters of the last century are as powerful as they used to be. The Golden Company, for one, is limited to a handful of supported Arks, and perhaps the most well-known company in the modern day, the Windblown, consist of a mere 300 000 members. Mercenaries are, for the most part, freelance agents. The holo-arena, on the other hand, has grown vastly from a tourist attraction on certain Arks to a widespread galactic phenomenon. VR tournaments of all types are well-established in the Empire, with many competitors becoming well-known celebrities.

3. Character Creation
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The party will consist of a group of freelance spacers, carrying out a variety of jobs across the galaxy. As with the original game, players are encouraged, but not required, to build on the existing world with their characters. The following are some notes and guidelines one should consider when making their character:

Plasma, also referred to as energy, is still an element that can be taken through Elementalist, working as follows: Plasma attacks deal double the usual damage on a crit, and have a 1 in 10 chance to cripple a helpless target. Outside of combat, plasma can soften or outright melt solid objects, although the difficulty of doing so depends on the object.

There are also two new tags that can be added to weapons:

The first of these is Firearm. Firearms always count as Ranged weapons, but have a DC-1 to their crit range, and can only be fired a certain amount of times before needing to be reloaded. Reloading counts as an automatic action. The amount of shots it can carry depends on the weapon, but is anywhere from 1 to 8, although most firearms can be used 4 times. Consult the DM if you want to take a firearm.

The second is Energy weapon. This is a special tag in that it does not tage up a tag "slot", meaning it can be attached to any weapon regardless of rulings limiting the amount of weapon tags you can take. Energy weapons always count as having the Plasma elementalist, but similarly to firearms, they can only be used a certain amount of times in a row (usually 3) before they start to overheat, increasing the critfail range by 1 for every swing over the overheating threshold. The amount of turns it takes for an energy weapon to cool down is equal to the amount of times used while overheating-1, minimum 1. Again, consult the DM if you want to use an energy weapon.

Money will be earned as loot, from bartering, or as a reward for completing a mission. However, in most cases it can be assume dthat your character will not start completely broke. You may start with up to 300 Sovereigns in your inventory.

As noted in the previous section, magic is much more common in this game than in the original BWB, and if you wish to make a spellcaster you are perfectly able to do so. However, if you desire to, you could also make a spellcaster while refluffing their skills to be technological in nature. For instance, one could refluff Earthen Strike to be their character having a powerful fist gauntlet to punch with.

To diversify the options available for character creation, this iteration of BWB will also include 4 new playable races: Saurians, Felids, Sea Ponies and Robots. Note that the sea pony splat is still being worked on at the moment. Any feedback or suggestions for it would be greatly appreciated.

	Saurians: https://pastebin.com/dkuWDabk

	Felids: https://pastebin.com/6Wv8pt59

	Sea Ponies (WIP): https://pastebin.com/NEx5XMVQ

	Robots: https://pastebin.com/8ga8eebm

4. Player List
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	Garik: Coronet (https://pastebin.com/dKxN9vaM)

	Gernade: Glitter Pop (https://pastebin.com/DnNS0zrP)

	Pyrite: Poncho (https://pastebin.com/ST0ZC4g7)

	Tome: F. R. A. N. K. (https://pastebin.com/i1cdqLhr)

	Xenthori: Copper Feel (https://pastebin.com/T2m6zFbJ)