The Warlord of Old China
"There was a time of Warlords and Light battled Light across the world — different struggle surely, but never discount the effect you have on those around you" - Saladin Forge, The Last Iron Lord
Opening the Wound
In the history of the Destiny universe, there are several distinct time periods. The Golden Age, The Collapse, The Dark Age, and the City Age. In the murky period after the apocalypse is where we find the origins of this story. The Warlords of the Dark Ages. Tyrants who ruled over their lands like god kings. A war was waged between their kind, and the Iron Lords, and the Warlords were lost, fading out of memory. This adventure begins with a question:
What if the Iron Lords missed one?
The Severus Protectorate
Of the many warlords that had come and gone throughout destiny, what I had wanted to do was create one that was not only different compared to those who had come before. But one who had a different, more holistic approach to how she rules her territory. In terms of the character design, the inspiration for her appearance had come from the Sisters of Battle. They had a strength to their battle armor and a ferocity to their weapons that made me gravitate toward them for the appearance of this warlord. The weapon informed her fighting style, in addition to her attitude towards fighting.
Severus, is a being who believes that in order to protect that which you love, you must terrify all that threaten it. Her weapon, is a toothed chain saw sword meant to carve and tear as much as cut. The sound of the blade was meant to cause her enemies to flee in terror.
Yet, she knew that being a warrior atop a hill meant nothing. All it would take was more people like her to bring her down. While people with powers like hers were in short supply, she could build an army to defend the borders that she had created. Leading to the full creation of the enemy faction: The Severus Protectorate.
The Grunts of the Litter
For the most part, the Destiny video game has humans playing against enemies that are alien in shape and form. However, the question that I had always asked was what happened when the humans came into conflict with each other. That was the basis by which I had created the Severus Army. The main foot soldiers of the group were just standard humans. Average in build, but wholly dedicated to the protection of their land and their leader. These units made up the ground forces.
Severus Foot Soldier
STR 15 (+2)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 14 (+2)
INT 10 (+0)
WIS 10( +0)
CHA 11 (+0)
AC: 12
Hit Points: 32
Speed 30 ft
Skills: Intimidation +2
Passive Perception 10
Languages: City Common
25 XP
Strength and Discipline: Foot soldier has advantage on checks that are related to intimidation, fear, or psychological warfare.
Actions
Multiattack: Severus soldier make 2 attacks with their firearm or melee weapon
Combat Knife: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit range 5ft one target, hit 1d6+2 piercing/slash damage.
Severus Pattern Automatic Rifle. Firearm Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, 1d6, One Target, 30/40/75, kinetic
Frag Grenade: 60ft Mortar, 2 Per Long Rest. Soldier makes a ranged attack roll. Upon impact, the grenade explodes and all creatures within 5ft of the impact point must make a dexterity saving throw. Targets take 2d10 slashing explosive damage and half on a successful save.
These soldiers were meant to be lower level enemies meant to be fought by players that were around level 1 to 3. Making them a good starting point as an introductory enemy to the campaign and to the setting of this part of the adventure. Since Combat using this specific 5th edition module is slightly different, given the introduction of firearms and grenades. These two were effectively translated human bandits but scaled to reflect the enemies in the beastiary that came with the module.
Such inclusions reflective of that are the Strength and Discipline trait, and the Multiattack attack.
Lieutenant Aleja Juarez
"“It’s not about who’s right, it’s about what’s left.” - Lt. Aleja Juarez, Severus Wraith
One of the most impactful characters in this section of the campaign is one who embodies what the faction has become versus how they had started. That is Lt. Aleja Juarez of the Protectorate Wraith Division. A group trained by the Warlord herself to fight against Guardians at their own game. The inspiration behind these specific fighters was the Pilots from the Titanfall Universe. As the AI generated image above suggests. The idea behind these guys was that if a human trained themselves to the peak of physical condition and had the right equipment they could do what a guardian can do.
Juarez himself is a recurring villain in this section of the story, to the point where when he was first being used, he took the spot of the main villain in the climax. The main theme of the Severus Protectorate is that the world outside is dangerous and seeks to destroy all that they are. The citizenry have rallied around this xenophobia, yet the sense of community that her policy brought, has now turned into something worse: a zeal that made her soldiers into monsters. Capable of easily committing the acts of war necessary for keeping their city together.
This was one of the first bosses that I had made with the intention of being a menace to the fireteam that happens to play the campaign. He was one of the first creatures that I had created that used a few of the unique status effects included in the 5th edition module. Though it was not done before introducing these mechanics to my players with a less lethal enemy. Suppression is the big one that I gave to them, and it prevents the players from using their more potent abilities. That was the key challenge that I sought to make, and induce my players to think more clearly about how they approach fights.
Lt. Aleja Juarez
STR 14 (+2)
DEX 18 (+4)
CON 16 (+3)
INT 16 (+3)
WIS 16(+3)
CHA 16 (+3)
Medium Human Soldier
Speed: 30ft.
AC: 17
HP: 500
Shields: 300 void shields
Skills: Intimidation +4 Stealth +5 Acrobatics +6
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
Passive Perception 16
Language: City Common
CQC Specialist: Juarez gains an additional +2 to melee attacks. Juarez can chose to use his dexterity modifier for his melee attacks.
Jumper Kit: Juarez gains the ability to run along walls and gains 30ft climbing speed.
Trained Guardian Killer: Juarez can use his Suppression Grapple as a reaction.
Paracausal Resistance: Juarez has advantage on saving throws against light abilities.
Dual Wielder: Juarez can add his ability score to attacks with offhand weapons.
Actions
Suppression Grapple - 1 Target, 15ft, target must make a DC 16 dexterity saving throw. Upon failure, target is suppressed. Target may make a Wisdom saving throw on their turn to remove the suppression condition. Grapple can also be used to gain an additional fifteen feet of movement.
Thousand Cuts - Melee Weapon Attack, Dagger, 1 target 5ft, +8 to hit, 2d6 + 6.
Dust and Ash- Firearm Weapon Attack, Handcannon, 1 target, 25/50/90. 3d10+6.
Multi-Attack - Juarez can make 3 attacks with Thousand Cuts or Dust and Ash.
Wraith - Concentration. Thousand cuts becomes surrounded in void light, and Juarez himself is now able to utilize the attacks and conditions as described by the “Spectral Blade” super. While concentrating on this ability, Juarez’s melee attacks gain an additional 1d6 of damage, and gain the property of dealing void damage.
Without A Trace - Juarez strikes with his blade in a swift reverse grip stab, on hit dealing 4d10+6 damage, on either a hit or a miss, Juarez gains active camouflage until he makes another attack.
Legendary Actions
3/per day - Legendary Resistance - If Juarez were to fail a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Seeing The Other Side
The Osprey Units
Vehicle
18 AC
400 HP
250 Shields Arc
Speed 60ft walk, 60 ft flying
Saving Throws Str +8, Con +8 Skills Athletics +8, Intimidation +3, Perception +5
STR 21 (+5)
DEX 15 (+3)
CON 20 (+5)
INT 17 (+3)
WIS 15 (+2)
CHA 11 (+0)
Perseverance (1/long rest). If the Talon suit fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack: Talon can take 2 attacks with its auto cannon
Fan Assault: Within a 20ft cone attack all characters make a dexterity saving throw. 3d12 + 3 damage on fail, half on success.
Assault Cannon +8 to hit 2d12 damage. 50/100/200
Missile Barrage: Mark 5 targets, (recharge d12 [11]) all enemies within a 5ft radius. Enemies that are hit make a dexterity saving throw, and take 3d12 damage,
Cluster Rocket: (recharge d8 [8]): Targets within a 10ft radius of the rocket impact point make a dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6,
Of course, it's easy to just have a "villain" faction that's based in a totalitarian, xenophobic regime. But it's a completely different story when that faction has a physical piece that is interacted with by the players. This was one of the biggest deviations from the written story, but it was one that I had fallen in love with as a means to build the world. In one of the conflicts that the players had faced, I had deployed the first boss.
Talon-1 a pilot of a powerful piece of military hardware called an Osprey. Based on the suits of power armor from Armored Core, Mobile Suit Gundam, and a little bit of Transformers thrown in, it was a comparable level of lethality for a standard human to fight against not just one guardian, but several. The fight was meant to be tough, a lot of the attacks that this machine could unleash were based on either multiple hits, or multiple projectiles launched at once.
The character who is behind the suit however, is one who is a ground level soldier for the Severus army. Raised in the environment that the party is invading and attempting to destroy. The players however, had managed to convince her to surrender. Bringing her in for questioning and taking the suit with them. The suit would be used later for analysis, but the more important details came out of the pilot behind it.
This was a group of people who had not only survived, but prospered underneath this Warlord. They were strong, safe, and feared. The aliens who had come to earth wouldn't challenge them. Especially after the war that had occurred a few centuries prior. A frequent argument that the players would pose against her opinion is that the Last City of earth is where they can be free. But the people here, don't see the guardians of the city as their saviors. Rather as people who are coming in to destroy a way of life that they don't understand.
Combat and Lessons
