Stalwarts

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Stalwarts

The concept of the aura is an important one to grasp in understanding the way society works in Celegia. On Earth, there is a sharp limit to the amount of individual personal power a person may accumulate. No matter how experienced, skilled, crafty, or tough, a bullet will kill a person if it strikes them correctly. In Celegia, there is no guarantee that this will be the case. A highly skilled person in Celegia may be literally superhuman in their capabilities. How can this be? Remember the presence of that mystic shadow, the aura.

The aura of a person in Celegia is a complex phenomenon indeed. It exists as a separate portion of the person, but in some way it is also a part of the person. In humans the aura is not in any way indicative of any kind of magical powers innate to the race, and humans are completely mundane, having no innate powers or abilities at all. The simple existence of their life force somehow generates the aura, and there is no way to know if an aura can exist without magic being present, since the only way to detect an aura is by magical means. The aura is a part of the person just as much as their fingers or skin, and like a muscle, the aura can be strengthened through exercise.

Highly capable persons in Celegia have almost always strengthened their auras far beyond their normal level. In game terms, the process of level increase is an abstract way of simulating this steady accumulation of might. In Celegia, all men are created equal, but they rarely remain that way. In Celegian culture it is recognized that people of extreme skill and capability exist, and are common enough to be known by a common title. Heroes of surpassing ability and skill are known as Stalwarts. Stalwarts are common indeed in Celegian culture, and are highly valued members of any community. A Stalwart mage may possess magics far beyond the reach of lesser mages.

A Stalwart warrior is a hero of nigh inhuman ferocity. A Stalwart priest is a near perfect icon of their God's philosophy. A Stalwart rogue is a rascal of legendary ability and cunning. In many ways, Stalwarts are the defining elements of Celegian culture, many of them enjoying considerable fame in their local community.

The definition of a Stalwart is vague, and is basically an appellation bestowed upon you by your peer group. In the pastoral countryside a Stalwart may be a person whose capabilities are barely of note in a larger context, but they are Stalwarts nonetheless. In the Empire, all of the great movers and shakers are Stalwarts in some way or another, and the accomplishments of the mightiest are so incredible they surely must be exaggerations. If the stories are to be believed, Stalwarts are able to ignore death, walk on air, call the very Gods, and perform impossible magical feats. All of these effects are made possible by the ability of these Stalwarts to manipulate their enhanced auras. For example, many Stalwart Warriors are so powerful that they may suffer an assault which should kill them where they stand. But they are able to draw upon hidden reserves of aural strength and remain up and deadly, even though they are almost literally dead on their feet. Even without powerful healing magics, if they are given enough time to recover, they will usually shrug off these killing wounds and return to fight another day. A common element in Celegian heroic stories is the powerful warrior poisoned through treachery, mistaken for dead, and buried. Days later the hero awakens, claws a way to freedom, and foils the villain. Stalwarts are able to link their auras to their equipment and animals, and as long as they are alive the equipment and animals are part of them, as much as their face and arms.

A Note on Normal, Stalwart, Epic, and Deific Advancement

In game terms, there are three general classes of characters and items in Celegia. At the lowest level is the Normal classification, and this covers player characters up to ninth level and monsters up to an ECL or CR of nine. Magic weapons and armor of up to +3 enhancement bonus are also covered as "normal” and unremarked. Minor and some medium items also fall into this category.

The Stalwart classification covers player characters from 10th level up to 20th level, and monsters from ECL or CR 10 to 20. Magic items and armor with an enhancement bonus of +4 to +9 are also found as Stalwart items and go unremarked. (Note that this replaces the usual cap of +5 on weapons and armor: Celegia is an inherently more magically potent game setting than most.) Minor, medium, and major magical items are also in play in Stalwart Settings. Now, to make this category fit comfortably witht he existing item creation charts, a word of clarification: Stalwart items are ones which have an enhancement to-hit and damage between +4 and +9, but the standard chart goes as high as +10. This means a Stalwart item can have one enhancer and still be +9 to-hit and damage, and be priced on the Stalwart chart. Any item with a total enhancement of +11 or more is priced on the Epic chart, a considerably more expensive chart. The reason for this is that the techniques to place that much aura into an item become far more complex at that point.

Above Stalwart lies the realm of the Epic. Epic player characters possess 21 and more levels, and monsters with ECL and CR above 20 are found. Standard Epic advancement rules are in place as well. Magic items and armor are available with +10 and higher enchantments, and major items and minor artifacts become common.

At 30th level, PC's may choose to continue with Epic advancement, or they may choose to tap into the Celestial Cascade and attain Deity status per the SRD.