Requiem for the Fallen
Oh, souls adrift in twilight's strife
Caught in the maelstrom of life and death.
Kyvalron's grasp, a shadowed life,
Lovelyn's embrace, a hallowed breath.
Torn from the mortal coil, you roam,
Lost in the ether, a spectral throng.
Return, oh return, find your home,
Break free from the battle’s wrong.
Planerium weeps, its heart in pain,
For souls departed, a mournful cry.
Let love’s light pierce the darkest stain,
And lead you back to earth and sky.
Oh, cosmic powers, lend your might,
To bridge the chasm, dispel the fear.
Restore the fallen to their light,
And calm the tempest, bring solace near.
Guidance, descend, a beacon's gleam,
To reunite the severed thread.
Let hope ignite, a fervent dream,
To heal the wounds, uplift the dead.
This is the basic set-up for playing Fiends and Light - Guidance. It is a game where 3 pious believers from each Fiends or Light factions embark on a path to go into enemy territory to call upon the opposing God, either Lovelyn from the Light faction or Kyvalron of the Fiends faction, to return the souls of the dead who were vanquished in the Genesis war. For more context on the Genesis war, please refer to the game Fiends and Light - Genesis.
Character Selection - There are 3 characters in both the Fiends and Light factions. All 3 characters are pious believers who have to embark on the path to bring the fallen souls back to their faction.
Characters in Fiends Faction
1. The Shadow Knight
Archetype: Warrior
Description: A devout warrior who believes in the strength and glory of battle. They are skilled in melee combat and possess abilities to strike fear into their enemies. Their devotion to Kyvalron is absolute, and they see death as a glorious ascension.
2. The Soulbinder
Archetype: Cleric/Warlock
Description: A priest-like figure who channels the dark energies of Kyvalron to bind the souls of the fallen to their master. They excel in healing and support magic, but also possess potent offensive abilities. Their goal is to increase Kyvalron's power by expanding his dominion over the afterlife.
3. The Infernal Scholar
Archetype: Warlock
Description: A cunning and intelligent individual who seeks to understand the true nature of the universe through dark magic. They are skilled in spellcasting and have a deep knowledge of the occult. Their devotion to Kyvalron is rooted in their desire to unlock the secrets of creation and destruction.
Characters in Light Faction
1. The Radiant Paladin
Archetype: Paladin
Description: A noble and just warrior who embodies the ideals of Lovelyn. They are skilled in both melee combat and protective magic. Their devotion to the goddess is unwavering, and they strive to protect the innocent and bring hope to the world.
2. The Celestial Healer
Archetype: Cleric
Description: A compassionate healer who tends to the wounded and dying. Their connection to Lovelyn allows them to restore life and mend broken spirits. They are skilled in healing and support magic, and often serve as the heart and soul of their party.
3. The Divine Oracle
Archetype: Wizard
Description: A wise and prophetic figure who can see into the future and communicate with the divine. They are skilled in both divine and arcane magic, and often serve as the guiding light for their party. Their devotion to Lovelyn is rooted in their desire to protect the world from darkness.
Players have to choose the trait for each of the pious believer. There are 3 different types of traits - red, blue and yellow. The color of the trait chosen will affect how the pious believer responds to the nature of the God's request at the later stage of the game.
We will be using the Radiant Paladin with the red trait to explain further in this post.
Before embarking on the Path, players have to memorise the hints found on these 2 squarish boxes. On each box, there are 16 different hints from the Gods Lovelyn and Kyvalron placed onto these boxes.
There are the numbers - 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42, 43, 44 with each hint placed corresponding to the numbers. Each number represents a position on one of the four platforms found on each game board.
11 - Left position of the top left platform
12 - Top position of the top left platform
13 - Right position of the top left platform
14 - Bottom position of the top left platform
21 - Left position of the top right platform
22 - Top position of the top right platform
23 - Right position of the top right platform
24 - Bottom position of the top right platform
31 - Left position of the bottom right platform
32 - Top position of the bottom right platform
33 - Right position of the bottom right platform
34 - Bottom position of the bottom right platform
41 - Left position of the bottom left platform
42 - Top position of the bottom left platform
43 - Right position of the bottom left platform
44 - Bottom position of the bottom left platform
Players are given 5 minutes to memorise the cards corresponding to the positions, which will determine whether he can win the game later on.
Both sides step onto the first step on the Path, chanting the utterances. For the Radiant Paladin on the Light side (closer to screen), player has to say "Oh Lovelyn, goddess of love and light, hear my plea. Guide my path and grant me the power to restore the fallen."
Types of Utterances to Chant
The Fiend pious believer has to chant the following utterances for every step on the Path to gain a Feat for each step (element of roleplaying)
1st step - Invocation of Shadow: "In the abyss of Kyvalron's might, I call upon the shadows to rise. Lend me your power, and I shall return the lost to their dark master."
2nd step - Descent into Darkness: "Through the veils of death, I descend. In the name of Kyvalron, I claim these souls for the eternal night."
3rd step - Infernal Anthem: "With the fury of a thousand demons, I sing a requiem for the fallen. Rise, servants of darkness, and answer my call."
4th step - Blood Pact: "By the crimson bond of sacrifice, I pledge my soul to Kyvalron. Grant me the strength to reclaim what is rightfully yours."
The Light pious believer has to chant the following utterances for every step on the Path to gain a Feat for each step (element of roleplaying)
1st step - Celestial Call: "Oh, Lovelyn, goddess of light and life, hear my plea. Guide my path and grant me the power to restore the fallen."
2nd step - Sanctified Plea: "In the name of purity and hope, I beseech you, Lovelyn. Let your radiance dispel the darkness and reclaim lost souls."
3rd step - Divine Benediction: "With the blessing of the heavens, I embark on this sacred journey. May your love and mercy guide my steps."
4th step - Promise of Redemption: "I vow to bring your children home, Lovelyn. Let my heart be your vessel, and my spirit your sword."
After chanting, player gets to draw one feat from the pile as shown in the photo and slide it underneath the red trait of the Radiant Paladin character
Here as can be seen, after chanting 4 utterances for each step, the red and blue marbles reached the Bridge, with the feats obtained.
Types of Feats
General Feats
Soul Weaver: Allows the character to interact with souls, whether to communicate, heal, or even bind. Useful for understanding the dead or those possessed.
Planar Conduit: Grants the ability to sense and interact with the planar energies of Planerium, allowing for unique interactions with the environment and creatures.
Divine/Infernal Resilience: Provides resistance to a specific type of divine or infernal energy, depending on the character's alignment.
Planar Resistance: Grants resistance to a specific type of planar energy, allowing characters to endure harsh environments or magical effects.
Aura of Serenity: Enables the character to calm and soothe those around them, useful for de-escalation or healing emotional wounds.
Planar Traveler: Increases movement speed and grants bonuses to skills related to exploration and navigation.
Resilient Body: Increases the character's hit point maximum and grants resistance to a specific type of damage.
Combat Feats
Spectral Strike: Allows the character to harness the power of the dead for a potent attack.
Planar Leap: Grants the ability to teleport short distances, useful for battlefield maneuverability or escaping dangerous situations.
Soul Shatter: Allows the character to deal additional damage to creatures with weakened souls or spirits.
Planar Strike: Imbues weapons with planar energy, granting additional damage or effects based on the type of energy chosen.
Defiant Spirit: Grants temporary hit points when the character is surrounded by enemies, encouraging aggressive playstyles.
Planar Warding: Creates a protective barrier around the character or allies, absorbing damage and protecting against specific effects.
Social Feats
Soul Speaker: Enables the character to understand and communicate with creatures from other planes of existence.
Divine/Infernal Persuasion: Grants the ability to influence others through the power of their deity, making them more persuasive in religious or ideological matters.
Charismatic Influence: Enhances the character's ability to persuade, intimidate, or deceive others.
Planar Diplomat: Grants bonuses to diplomacy and understanding when dealing with creatures from other planes.
Soulful Empathy: Allows the character to sense the emotions and needs of others, facilitating strong bonds.
Inspiring Leader: Boosts the morale and abilities of allies, making them more effective in combat and other challenges.
Skill-Based Feats
Planar Loremaster: Provides expertise in knowledge about the planes of existence, allowing the character to uncover secrets and understand the world better.
Ritual Master: Grants the ability to perform powerful rituals, potentially summoning allies, cursing enemies, or altering the environment.
Planar Cartographer: Grants expertise in creating maps and navigating through different planes.
Arcane Scholar: Provides bonuses to knowledge skills related to magic and the occult.
Divine Loremaster: Grants expertise in religious and theological knowledge.
Planar Craftsman: Allows the character to create items with planar properties or enhance existing items.
Unique Feat
Champion of the Fallen: This feat is unique to characters who have a strong connection to the dead. It grants abilities related to raising the dead, protecting the souls of the fallen, or even becoming a champion of the afterlife.
Harbinger of Destiny: Grants the ability to see glimpses of the future or influence the course of events.
Nexus of Power: Allows the character to become a focal point for planar energy, granting powerful abilities but also making them a target for opposing forces.
Overcoming Scenarios
After character is selected with the trait, and feats are gained from taking the steps, pious believer has to go onto the Bridge to deal with difficulties and trials that prevent the believer from reaching the other side of the battlefield
For each scenario that is successfully overcome, one offering will be given to the pious believer
If they can’t clear the scenario, they can still proceed forward, just without the offerings
If it is a General Feat Scenario, there must at least be one General Feat, which can be combined with a feat of other categories
Be creative in explaining why a combination of feats can allow for the scenario to be overcome
The opposing player must be convinced and the Game Master agrees.
If the Game Master agrees and the opposing player disagrees, roll a D20 dice. If the dice is 10 or above, the scenario is successfully overcome.
If both the Game Master and the player disagree, roll a D20 dice. Only when the result is a 20 does the scenario is overcome.
The below are the following scenarios in Guidance:
For clarity, when a unique scenario (ie 5) is rolled, the next roll, if it is a 1 or 4, it will be the "Champion of Fallen" scenario. If it is a 2 or 5, it is a "Harbringer of Destiny" scenario and so on.
The pious believers take the first step on the Bridge, overcoming the scenarios as set out above, with the given feats that they have. Pious believers have to be creative in explaining how their feats are relevant in overcoming the scenarios. As this is a roleplaying game, the third party Game Master and the opposing player has to accept the explanations.
Opposing Characters meeting each other on the Path
Roleplay - Character can exchange one of their feats with the opposing player’s character each time they meet, and they can share the same step, however they have to roleplay the following sentences:
When Fiends is offering the exchange -
Fiends Character - "In the name of Kyvalron, I offer a piece of myself for a taste of your strength."
Light Character - "By the grace of Lovelyn, I accept your offering, but know that your path will be tested."
When Light character is offering the exchange
Light Character - "In the name of Lovelyn, I offer a piece of my strength to illuminate your path."
Fiends Character - "With a shadow's grace, I accept your offering. May it serve me well."
Players reach the end of the scenarios here. For every scenario that is overcome, the player gets 1 offering. As such, the maximum amount of offerings a pious believer can have is 4.
Prayer to move the Totems to call on the dead souls
Opposing God (opposing player) will secretly list down 4 different hints (from the above 16 different hints) when the prayer starts.
P.S - Remember at this start of the post, where players have to memorise the positions of the hints? This is where it comes into play.
Pious Believer has to place the offerings he/she has gotten from overcoming the scenarios on 4 platforms in different combinations based on the hints.
The offerings are different colored marbles from the two pious believers marbles.
Each step contains one hint from the opposing god, until the pious believer reaches the end.
1 correct placement - 1 soul
2 correct placements - 3 souls
3 correct placements - 7 souls
4 correct placements - 12 souls
If there are 3 or less correct placements, the pious believer has a chance to realign the placements by moving the totems (servo motors).
The pious believer then has to pray, with each prayer, he gets one chance to move the totems (the servo motors).
The number of times the pious believer can pray is dependent on the trait he/she possesses, which has to be compatible with the opposing God’s request, which is by random draw of cards.
Each character has 3 different traits, separated into red, blue and green. If the character trait’s color is compatible with the opposing god’s request card, then he gets 3 prayers. If it is acceptable compatibility, it is 2 prayers. If it is incompatible, it is 1 prayer.
The compatibility works like this:
God’s request is red - red trait is compatible, blue trait is acceptable, yellow trait is incompatible
God’s request is blue - red trait is acceptable, blue trait is compatible, yellow trait is incompatible
God’s request is yellow - red trait is incompatible, blue trait is acceptable, yellow is compatible
Description of Kyvalron’s Requests
(RED) - "To defy the light, you must embrace the darkness that resides within you."
(YELLOW) - "Strength is forged in adversity. Prove your resolve by overcoming the challenges I place before you."
(BLUE) - "To understand the true nature of existence, you must delve into the depths of despair."
Description of Lovelyn’s Requests
(RED) - "To reclaim a soul from the clutches of darkness, you must first find compassion within your own heart."
(YELLOW) - "To understand the light, you must walk through the shadows without succumbing to them."
(BLUE) - "Only by proving your worthiness to the lost can you hope to bring them back from the abyss."
Players have to choose one of the three God requests, namely yellow, blue or red.
In this case it is a blue God request, hence it is of acceptable compatibility with the red Radiant Paladin trait, hence player gets 2 chances to move the platforms.
Player then has the chance to review the hints on the squarish box.
Both players check the position of the offerings against the hints that the opposing God has listed down. Depending on the number of correct positions, player gets a corresponding number of souls.
Repeat the whole game process for the remaining two characters, and the player who has more total number of souls retrieved wins the game.
Additional Information - List of Hints
List of Lovelyn’s Hints
Aerion: Hope
Celestia: Purity
Ethereal: Grace
Zephyr: Kindness
Solaria: Light
Seraphina: Mercy
Iris: Compassion
Aurora: Wisdom
Elysia: Harmony
Veritas: Truth
Sanctus: Holiness
Amara: Love
Astraea: Justice
Pax: Peace
Eternity: Faith
Benediction: Blessing
List of Kyvalron’s Hints
Xal'thor: Domination
Zog'naar: Corruption
K'thul: Sacrifice
Mor'goth: Power
Vrak'thar: Darkness
Sil'hedron: Chaos
Drak'thul: Destruction
Ner'zul: Suffering
Mal'zahar: Deception
Thul'dora: Fear
Gorth'lak: Betrayal
Xar'thul: Hatred
Ign'thul: Fury
Zor'thul: Vengeance
Kal'dorn: Ambition
Zog'thar: Conquest
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