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| What strange and wonderful beings live here. Art By: Quique Alcatena |
Divine lust move
their creators, and in doing so, these souls became manifest. Far
weaker than the gods that spawned them, yet their nobility exceeds
the meagerness of their parents' hearts. They burned bridges linking
them to their parentage, cutting all ties, and erasing what history
they had together. To be Breksta is to hate the beings that
created your race, and to live in fear of what the world would do if
they had an inkling of your heritage. Breksta tell non-kin a
simple history, they emerged from a forgotten part of the city,
refugees from a war so terrible that even the history of it was
killed in the carnage. Embodiments of celestial spheres, they seek to
shed light on a world that would have been consumed in the darkness
of their creators' hunger.
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| A Diurn out with his friends. |
We
are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
- Oscar Wilde
The
Breksta were
created by the god and goddess Burakuma
and Consos,
two monsters held prisoner by the Priests
of Plenty to ensure
they do not eat the world. They possess the bodies of humanoids,
usually rather comely, and heads of celestial bodies. Men and women
who go about their lives, giving the citizenry a close view of
planets, moons, and stars.
Breksta
have divided their
culture into two castes, neither held in higher regard than the
other, though bickering often due to opposing natures. Diurns
embody the vivacity of
the day, energetic and filled with undiluted emotion. They focus
their energies on the arts and expressing themselves, or acting as
the expressive voice of others. Diurns
can be easily pushed into manic states, becoming untiring crusaders
or unrestrained destroyers. It is the Nocturns
who embody the contemplative aspect of their race, being prone to few
words and brooding natures. They embody patience and deliberate
action, which can put them at odds with the Diurns
of their kind. It is
the goal of Breksta
matchmakers to create
'balanced pairings' where a Diurn
and a Nocturn
are paired together. Ideally, these matings are meant to last for the
life of the couple, but the reality of such pairings does not meet
perfections. As with their style of dress and other affectations, the
Breksta
have adopted the human institution of divorce. Seeking to blend in as
much as possible, the Breksta
have mimicked human culture, having abandoned and forgotten their
own. While dalliances have occurred between the Breksta
and other races, they are frowned upon due to the possibility of
progeny being spawned from such unions. Breksta
who do not wish to be shunned by their own people, purposely end
'monstrous' pregnancies. Those who are born of the union of a Breksta
and another race are called Fracti,
and are shunned more so than their parents.
There
are so few Fracti
that most knowledge about them comes in the form of rumor. Whispers
have it that these sad souls are not born with the heads of celestial
bodies, but rather their heads take the form of complex machines,
tools, clouds of gas, or even books. According to talk shared over
booze and food, these Fracti
possess strange powers over odd forces: giving life to machines and
speaking the language of books are just a few of the powers
attributed to them. But such rumors are best left for another time.
(And another post.)
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| A Nocturn skulking about at night. |
Physicality
Their
heads take the form of stars, planets, and moons that float a few
inches above their shoulders. The space where their neck would attack
to the body is smooth, and is very sensitive to touch. Breksta
bodies take the form of fit humanoids, with skin tones usually
matching the color their celestial head. Their bodies are fit,
despite any level of physical activity, and tend not to age once they
reach physical maturity. Height of an average Breksta
being much taller than the average human. Lifespans are usually
triple that of human beings, with their heads disintegrating into
mist upon their death.
OSR/AD&D/LotFP
Diurns
+/- 0 Strength (3 /
18)
+/- 0 Dexterity (3 /
18)
+1 Constitution (3 /
18)
+/- 0 Intelligence
(3 / 18)
-2 Wisdom (3 / 18)
+2 Charisma (8 / 18)
Nocturns
+/- 0 Strength (3 /
18)
+/- 0 Dexterity (3 /
18)
+1 Constitution (3 /
18)
+/- 0 Intelligence
(8 / 18)
+2 Wisdom (8 / 18)
-2 Charisma (3 / 18)
Diurns
tend to be impulsive and very charming, while Nocturns
tend to be perceptive and taciturn. Due to their larger than average
size, Breksta tend to
be more hardy than the average human.
Both
races possess 360 degree vision and are immune to gaze attacks. Both
require +5% more experience to level up as compared to other races.
Diurns
Cannot be blinded by
bright light.
Can cast Light
a number of times per day equal to their level. The caster level is
equal to their character level. This spell cannot be reversed.
Take 1.5x damage
from Onyx weapons.
Added
Abilities
These grant the
character additional abilities in exchange for needing greater levels
of experience to level up.
Greater Light:
The character can cast the spell Light
at will. Requires +5% extra experience to level up.
Continual Light:
The character may cast Continual
Light instead of the Light
spell. The number of times per
day is equal to the character's, and caster level is character level.
Requires +10% extra experience to level up.
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| A female Nocturn. Art by: Emile Bayard |
Burning Light
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1
standard action
Range: Medium
(100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Ray
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Yes
vs. Magic/Spell
Spell Resistance:
Yes
Focusing
power like a ray of the sun, you project a blast of light from your
open palm. A creature struck by this ray of light takes 1d8 points
of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d8). An undead creature
takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d6), and an
undead creature particularly vulnerable to bright light takes 1d8
points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d8). A construct or
inanimate object takes only 1d6 points of damage per two caster
levels (maximum 5d6).
This power may be
used once per day, the number of times increases by 1 every 4 levels
after the first. Requires +10% extra experience to level.
Nocturns
They can see
perfectly in any darkness.
Can cast Darkness
a number of times per day equal to their level. The caster level is
equal to their character level. This spell cannot be reversed.
They take 1.5x
damage from gold.
Added
Abilities
These grant the
character additional abilities in exchange for needing greater levels
of experience to level up.
Greater Darkness:
The character can cast the spell Darkness at will. Requires +5% extra
experience to level up.
Continual
Darkness: The character may cast
Continual Darkness
instead of the Darkness spell.
The number of times per day is equal to the character's, and caster
level is character level. Requires +10% extra experience to level up.
Shadow Monsters
Components: V, S
Range: 15'
Duration: 1
round/level
Saving Throw:
Special
Area of Effect:
10' x 10'
The
shadow monsters spell enables the Breksta
to create semi-real phantasms of one or more monsters. The total hit
dice of the shadow monster or monsters thus created cannot exceed the
level of experience of the Breksta;
thus a 10th level Breksta
can create one creature which has 10 hit dice (in normal
circumstances), two which have 5 hit dice (normally), etc. All shadow
monsters created by one spell must be of the same sort, i.e.
hobgoblins, orcs, spectres, etc. They have 20% of the hit points they
would normally have. To determine this, roll the appropriate hit dice
and multiply by .20, any score less than .4 is dropped - in the case
of monsters with one (or fewer) hit dice, this indicates the monster
was not successfully created - and scores of .4 or greater are
rounded up to one hit point. If the creature or creatures viewing the
shadow monsters fail their saving throw and believe the illusion, the
shadow monsters perform as normal with respect to armour class and
attack forms. If the viewer or viewers make their saving throws, the
shadow monsters are armour class 10 and do only 20% of normal melee
damage (biting, clawing, weapon, etc.), dropping fractional damage
less than .4 as done with hit points. Example: A shadow monster
dragonne attacks a person knowing it is only quasi-real. The monster
strikes with 2 claw attacks and 1 bite, hitting as a 9 die monster.
All 3 attacks hit, and the normal damage dice are rolled: d8 scored
5, d8 scores 8, 3d6 scores 11 and each total is multiplied by .2 (.2
x 5 = 1, .2 x 8 = 1.6 = 2, 2 x 11 = 2.2 = 2) and 5 hit points of real
damage are scored upon the victim.
This power may be
used once per day, the number of times increases by 1 every 4 levels
after the first. Requires +15% extra experience to level.
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