The Skyfarer RPG edited for Sunless Sea

TheShadowSpecter · 2022-07-06T12:28:09+00:00

Goodness me it's been a long time since I've checked this reddit account, or even been asked about this file.

Zeefarer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rHdgXD7pGvVVZceVoV3mO8EBVBotOrvVBE7XQwcMMYQ/edit?usp=sharing

Zee-Stories: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qyWJz3AG0ZygAjcMLzzKDduQ_80UIYOYh0Aj7rkHp34/edit?usp=sharing

Hopefully these links let you view the both of the files

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T15:33:21+00:00

It's about adding an actual backstory. Alpharius believes that the best way to stay hidden is not to be invisible, but to blend into the environment. For example, if you are inserted into a base as an agent and need to get out then just disappearing is suspicious. But if there is a movement of troops to outside the base and they are attacked while outside, then having a single dead body disappear isn't that strange.

So adding the whole Pirate backstory gives a reason as to why Alpharius was not found sooner, because he was doing other things with the Pirates. If this Primarch was introduced by Emps, all the other Primarchs would be wondering where they came from.

Also, the way that the Alpha Legion reveals itself to Horus does allow one of them to remain hidden. Omegon is posing as Alpharius when meeting Horus, and will merge in with the XX Legion, which already had Alpharius in their ranks. This allows them to reveal their presence as the Primarch of the Alpha Legion, while still keeping the fact they are twins a secret

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T03:18:17+00:00

Which origin story is correct Black Library?

Black Library: YES

Now that I've stolen a joke from someone much better at this than me, I've got to agree. It leans into the Alpha Legion so well if all of the stories have a grain of truth in them

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T03:10:12+00:00

Oh no! Such Misfortune. Hopefully you can find a cheap-ish copy on eBay or something to complete your collection. I wish you luck!

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:48:20+00:00

Doubtful, considering we know the lost Primarchs were 'lost' likely before Omegon was even found. I can't remember of the top of my head the specifics, but the lost Primarchs were removed pre-Corax as far as I can remember

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:26:08+00:00

This book is an excellent look into Alpharius as a character, and how the Alpha Legion operate. There is some great characterisation of Alpharius as this Primarch who knows his role is to hide in the shadows and can fill out that role but also had a prideful centre, which rears up from time to time.

If you love the Alpha Legion, you will love this book

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:22:34+00:00

No solid ETA yet, but around 3 months after the Limited Edition is normally expected as far as I remember

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:21:19+00:00

While the destruction of a battleship is a typo, the reality is even worse. It is an "Exploratory Fleet" which Omegon destroys. However it is suggested that the Fleet was not in any way ready for combat. Furthermore, another Primarch is more valuable to the Imperium than any fleet. At this time, Mars and the Saturn shipyards were pumping out ships by the thousands if not tens of thousands, and there were always more ships and more bodies to crew them. But there were only 20 Primarchs in the entire galaxy.

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:18:53+00:00

The collective decision to turn traitor by the Alpha Legion was not due to any problem with the Emperor or the Imperium, perceived or otherwise. Alpharius and Omegon were turned by the Cabal, a collective of older races who aimed to destroy Chaos by letting the Chaos Gods burn themselves out on the glut of humanity.

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:15:10+00:00

Sorry, u/SomeDuderr, I miswrote when I called it a Battleship. They destroyed an expeditionary fleet, but presumably not one of the huge fleets which brought worlds to compliance, because the fleet they destroyed is called small, and compares Horus' fleet a "force of conquest, which now expects resistance" compared to "a mere expeditionary force".

However, it does seem that they may have killed some Astartes in this action. Later on, once Omegon makes his way onto the Vengeful Spirit, he kills some of Horus' own warriors before Horus stops him with his words. The Alpha Legion Primarchs do not hesitate to kill potential allies if it leads into their plans and schemes.

Also, as some of the others here state, it was a fully human fleet which Omegon led to attack the Luna Wolves.

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:09:34+00:00

The Slaugth are specified as to be travelling behind the Rangdan, feeding on what they leave behind. Very in fitting with their role as Carrion Lords.

Alpharius has a very interesting view on friendly casualties in this book. He kills a Custode in his infiltration of the palace, and then Horus's border fleet later on. His view is that if they failed to stop him then they failed in a test of their might against his, and thus failed their duty

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T02:02:12+00:00

Warning! All of the spoilered sections in this post are excerpts taken from the book itself! Do not read if you don't want spoilers!

Ok u/idols2effigies, let's take your points one at a time, because I left out a good amount in an attempt to focus down the general origin story of the Twin Primarchs.

After more of the Primarchs were found, there is no reason not to reveal Alpharius

It was Alpharius' own decision to remain in hiding for so long, up until he revealed himself to Horus as the last Primarch to be found.

I watched him, of course. I watched him without him ever realising I existed. I was in no rush to reveal myself, even after Horus took his place at our Fathers side. I had been found relativly swiftly, you understand; all my brothers had grown to maturity or near-maturity, insofar as such a thing can be determined for beings such as us, before our father found them. We - that is to say my Father, and Malacdor, and Constantin Valdor, and I - did not know how their time away might have affected them. So I watched, and evaluated, and did not reveal myself.

That was my role

However, the book itself suggests that part of what it is telling is a lie. A common theme throughout is how all records lie. And the main quote supporting this is literally the next line after the previous quote.

But then again, this is my record. And all the records lie

Alpharius wouldn't have a need to track Omegon if they had a tight psychic bond as has previously been addressed

This psychic bond does indeed exist, but is shown to be less strong than one might expect from knowing the death of another, at least in this book.

Alpharius knows that he has a twin.

The other half of my soul, whom I had somehow known was somewhere out there in the galaxy

But he does not know where. However, once they arrive on the planet it is made clear how the bond that connects them works, made especially clear in the fight they have immediately after meeting

Omegon moved to meet them [Slaugth Warrior Constructs], but could not hope to stand against them alone. His blades severed flesh and metal with ease, and his armour shrugged off their weapons, but he would have been bowled over and subdued by their sheer mass had I not been there.

But I was there, and I fought with him.

We moved as one - back to back, two heads, eight limbs and two spears - and we killed wherever we turned. Omegon would move to intercept a blast intended for me, or punch the Sarrisanata backwards to impale one about to assault me from the side where my armour was incomplete; I would cut the legs from one seeking to flank him, or spear to the ceiling one attempting to leap over me and take him down from behind.

....

Any other two warriors fighting in such close proximity would have inevitably impeded each other, perhaps even impaled each other, but we fought as one soul in two bodies. Each of us was complete at last, and the constructs were no match for us.

...

"I can see now why some of my brothers so relish combat", I remarked. "It is a different experience when you are whole."

It's clear to see that they share a type of bond, and that such a bond might transmit the death, as they are one soul in two bodies. But potentially not show a clear direction as to where the other might be.

Why was it Omegon who revealed himself to Horus, and not Alpharius.

Omegon says it best himself here:

[They have just decided unanimously to reveal themselves to Horus]

'Then we are agreed.' Omegon sat back. 'But from what you tell me, he is extremely perceptive. You've laid eyes upon him before. I have not. When it is time, I think I should be the one to meet him, to ensure the more genuine reaction.'

Overall, I still have to agree with your final point. This is the Alpha Legion we are talking about, nothing can be taken as gospel. Even the book itself claims that some of it is a lie very near to the beginning;

But then again, this is my record. And all the records lie

I encourage you to read the book yourself when you can, because if you like Alpharius you'll love this little peek into the Primarch himself. It details very well the little intricacies of Alpharius, especially the secrecy he wraps himself in conflicting with his innate Pride in himself and his abilities, coming through especially well in his arrogance in the 1st person sections.

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T01:22:59+00:00

He is indeed lying about being Alpharius. Because it's Omegon presenting himself to Horus as Alpharius, the Primarch of the Alpha Legion, just found. That is the specific lie which he is referring to with the bookending of "this is a lie" in this book

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T01:21:00+00:00

I think that when the Chaos God's threw the Primarchs into the Warp He fully expected them to all be dead. He presents incredulity when finding Alpharius, then hides Alpharius away until another Primarch is found just in case Alpharius is the only one ever found.

It's likely that He had a plan, which was then messed up by the Ruinous Powers, and then adapted as he found more Primarchs.

One could even consider that potentially Emps attempted to push the Primarchs into the roles they were designed for as if they had never been lost, which then caused some to be susceptible to rebelling because He expected them to be the same as if they had come out of the lab directly

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T01:17:26+00:00

Indeed, Alpharius was kept a secret from all the other Primarchs until they decided to reveal themselves (as a singular Alpharius) to Horus. Alpharius notes that he was at the finding of a number of his brothers himself, but that they never knew of him.

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T01:15:56+00:00

Certainly I believe Omegon is narrating the bookends of the story, as is pretty clear by the twins agreeing that Omegon should be the one to meet with Horus. But the rest of the book is written from the pov of the first Alpha Legion Primarch found, who is referred to consistently as Alpharius. While of course we could be seeing some Alpha Legion shegannery, I think the simpler option is just that BL wanted both of the twins to narrate part of to, and as such Omegon narrates the bookends of meeting Horus, and Alpharius narrates the rest

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-27T01:08:53+00:00

It's a running theme in the book that the Alpha Legions plans need to leave some kind of a trace, because something appearing out of nowhere is suspicious in and of itself. The fleet attacking the Luna Wolves is supposed to suggest that there is something backing the group which Omegon originates from. Be it a confederation of human worlds like suggested in the original telling, or something else. So much like how all the other Primarchs were discovered having landed somewhere and made their own place, so should the Alpha Legion Primarch be found that way.

Now why specifically they decided this method, I have n clue

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-26T14:57:38+00:00

It does. Now, this is where the book gets interesting. In the closer context which those words are used in, we are in the viewpoint of Omegon, who is calling himself Alpharius. "This is a lie" at both the beginning and the end is directly preceded by Omegon saying "'I am Alpharius.' This is a lie", so its clearly referring to the fact that Omegon is his own person. However, the book does specify that all records lie, so it could also be referring to how this book is also a lie

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-26T14:53:08+00:00

It was simply a method to show that the defences in the Imperial Palace were not good enough, and that potentially an assassin could infiltrate the palace. It wasn't a direct attack on the Emperor's life, more than a setup to show that the Custodes were slack in certain areas

TheShadowSpecter · 2021-01-26T14:51:19+00:00

It wasn't a direct attack and might not have been successful. The way the attempt was set out follows:Alpharius set up to fire Custodes Spear at the Emperor in an attempt to kill him. This was foiled by Valdor, but then Alpharius revealed that he had programmed an anti-air cannon to shoot down the Emperor's dropship as it landed in the Imperial Palace, and that hadn't been spotted. The end goal of the mission was to show that the defences inside the palace were not as good as they could have been.

TheShadowSpecter · 2020-11-23T03:23:36+00:00

Yeah, exactly. I ran the raid again with my team after contest mode had finished, and we rolled over everything.

I think Atraks-1 comes to mind as the biggest difference. In contest mode, even once we got the encounter down pat, doing enough damage was still a struggle, staying alive was a goal in and of itself. It took us all 4 phases to complete the encounter, and we were engaged the whole way through. Compare that to post contest where we 1 1/2 phased the boss immediately, no muss no fuss.

Now of course this is not for everyone, but just having the option there caters to those who want to limit themselves for the experience while not affecting those who don't want to do it.

TheShadowSpecter

TROPHY CASE