LUNAR: Armageddon will be very different from the LUNAR RPGs you may already be familiar with. While eventually you will move on to Lunar in Generation 2, you’ll start off on the Blue Star, or as it’s known when this RPG starts, Earth for Generation 1.
Generation 1 is a prologue of sorts and tells the story of Zophar’s arrival on Earth and the final battle between him and Althena. It will be the shorter of the two parts. Generation 2 tells the story of the first generation born on Lunar and its adventures.
This RPG was split into two parts because I wanted to tell a story of Zophar’s arrival but couldn't end it completely on a downer. Similarly, I felt like a story about the first generation born on Lunar immediately after Zophar’s arrival needed some setup, hence the need to have this two-part system.
In Generation 1, magic, as you may know it, doesn’t exist. However, there is “Ether.” As mentioned in the time line, people are able to directly access the “ether” power via the Pharos Network. Hence, instead of “MP” you’ll have “EP,” or “Ether Points.”
As far as weapons and equipment, well, oddly enough you’ll start out with some pretty powerful gear. This is because of the super-high tech nature of the world at the beginning of Armageddon and the fact you'll not be starting off as beginners. After Zophar does his thing and technology crashes (leading into Generation 2), then there will be a downgrade in equipment until magical items start appearing. You'll also be starting out at level 5 here.
Genetic splicing has also become popular. The technology was invented centuries earlier and it eventually became a common replacement for plastic surgery. This results in all the funky anime-colored hair and what not. Of course, since DNA itself is being manipulated, many of these funky traits were inherited by their descendants.
A more radical group of genetic splicers decided to go beyond youthful looks and funky hair and eye color and instead spliced themselves with animal DNA before the practice was banned. Unfortunately, the animal DNA lived on in their descendants. They were ostracized for their looks and eventually formed an underclass with different members having different amounts of animal DNA, resulting in a range of “beastly” appearances among them. Early on, laws were passed discriminating against these splicers for no longer being fully human, but recently the laws were revised and guaranteed them the same rights as the supposedly full-blooded humans. These descendants of the splicers eventually became the beast people of Lunar.
One of the main military forces seen in the game are the United Space Marine Corps (USMC) and as their name and initials imply, they based their structure and traditions on the U.S. Marines.
It will be implied that it was very rough going for the transplants on Lunar at first, but things would’ve started improving not long after Generation 2’s players were born – or at least the youngest of Part 2’s players. This is an effect of people starting to get used to the idea of using magic instead of technology to survive as well as the relearning/rediscovery of traditional skills like blacksmithing.
So, now about the world itself. As the time line above describes, the game takes place in the year 3005 AD. The technology in this era is highly advanced. Most of the major locations in the world are linked by teleport station (think Phantasy Star II). Vehicular transport, in the forms of both public and private transportation, is also available to connect the teleport stations to more remote areas of the world. Along the same lines of the Saturn/PSX remakes of LUNAR, there is no combat on the “overworld” – however, there are certain parts of the world inaccessible by vehicle. This is where combat would take place, whether it’s a forest, cave, ancient temple, high-tech dungeon, etc.
While the world was fairly stable and advanced for quite a while, things fully changed when the UNS Prometheus returned from Triangulum.
While the world mostly relied primarily on a highly-efficient fusion generators for general power (with the more exotic sources like anti-matter and quantum singularities reserved for spacecraft) up to this point, this would change with the arrival of the Turiacus Generator. While the actual physics of how this system operated remained a mystery, humanity was still able to devise a method to exploit it. This provided Earth with limitless free energy that could be broadcast throughout the world. Due to the inability to determine the medium used for this energy broadcast, it was dubbed “ether power” after the disproven 19th-century theory that light used a medium called the “ether” or “aether” to travel through space. The one fault in this system is that the range of the generator was relatively small. Therefore, a network of relay stations had to be built all over the world. This was dubbed the Pharos Network, due to the resemblance of the relay stations to old-fashioned lighthouses (“pharos”>pharos is Greek for “lighthouse”).
One side effect of the Turiacus System is that individual people were able to directly tap into the “ether” to perform various magic-like feats. These were dubbed “ether powers,” and individuals had different levels of ether affinity. It soon became common practice for people to combine their ether skills with technology in day-to-day life.
Of course, with all this power available and the entire world’s reliance on it, something had to be done so it would remain available to everyone. The Turiacus Knights were established as an independent police force whose primary mission is to protect the Turiacus System. These Knights are similar to the Jedi Knights in Star Wars, but there are some exceptions. For one thing, you don’t have to be born into the Turiacus Knights like with the Jedi. The sole requirement is ether affinity, and since most people have some level of ether affinity, anyone can apply to the rigorous training program. Once in the training program, the trainee has a rank of “apprentice.” The apprentice studies various skills: martial arts, swordsmanship (the preferred weapon of the Turiacus Knights, like their Jedi analogues, is a light saber), ether mastery, and several military-related skills (engineering, field medicine, etc.) of the apprentice’s choosing. Once the apprentice is deemed ready by his or her instructors, he or she must take a final exam that tests their combat ability against more experienced knights as well as whatever other skills they had chosen to study. If the exam is passed, the apprentice is ready to become a full-fledged Knight after undergoing a secret initiation ceremony. Graduation day is typically a week after the initiation ceremony. No one except the highest ranking Knights knows exactly what happens during this ceremony – even the apprentice doesn't know exactly what's going on. However, after its completion, the apprentice can use new ether abilities that are unique to the Knights. He or she then holds the official rank of “knight.” The other ranks of the Knights are, in order, “master,” which is the lowest level an instructor may possess, and “lord,” which is the highest rank of Knight. Knights, Masters and Lords are often addressed as “Sir So-and-So,” “Master So-and-So,” or “Lord So-and-So,” respectively, whereas the lower-ranking apprentices rarely get no honorific but may be referred to as “apprentice So-and-So” by Knights.
The power structure of the knights is fairly simple – it’s entirely rank-based, with the apprentices at the bottom and the lords at the top. All the lords compose a single high council that meets around a round table at their headquarters in Alexandria, Egypt. The most senior lord, Lord Seth, is the chancellor of the council and sets the agenda for all meetings. The actual decisions are made democratically, with each councilor having a single vote. In the event of the tie, the chancellor’s vote serves as the tiebreaker.
As far as other general background information on the setting, well, this is the game where Zophar will appear and destroy the Earth (AKA Blue Star). As a player, you will have a front row seat to the destruction, hence the name LUNAR: Armageddon. This is the final battle between good and evil on Earth (at least until the Blue Star recovers). However, after Zophar’s destruction and sealing away by Althena, you still won’t be done. Evil will still be afoot on your new home world, Lunar (AKA the Moon), and you’ll have to stop it – only you’ll be without your ether powers and ether-based technology (Zophar kinda took out the Turiacus System and Pharos Network while in the process of trashing the Earth). Eventually, you’ll come to a conclusion on Lunar.
While this may seem to be a bit of a bummer (no matter what you can do, you can’t stop Zophar, and I admit it’s hard to top dealing with a god of death and destruction), the point of this RPG is to tell the story of the death of the Blue Star and the birth of Lunar (hence an early working title for it, Lunar: Death and Rebirth). As a player, you’ll have an integral role in how these events play out, but since the death of the Earth is already history in the LUNAR universe, you can’t stop it. However, it will be up to you to help make your new home world a safe, peaceful place for humanity to continue living. Are you up to the challenge?
Generation 2 takes place on Lunar and gives us a world like we all know and love – magic (real MP, not that EP crap), fantasy weapons, dragons, etc. The world will be assumed to be at peace in the beginning, so the players will start out at level 1 with basic fantasy gear. They may also be younger than the PCs in Generation 1 were and will be starting out at level 1. PCs from Generation 1 may appear in Generation 2 if their players wish them to, but not as party characters – in fact, it's entirely possible that the PCs of Generation 2 may be the children or other younger relatives (nieces, nephews, etc.) of Generation 1’s PCs! It's all pretty much up to the players.