Sunspear of Sol - Level Title Inspiration needed

General ACKS Forums General Discussion
1

Hey guys,

For my campaign I’ve taken the Bladedancer and tweaked it ever so slightly to create the Sunspear of Sol class.

The only mechanical change is to swap the 2-weapon fighting style for weapon and shield style, to create a Valkyrie-type warrioress, or if you know your console fighting games – something like Sophitia from Soul Calibur.

Essentially they’re holy warriors of the sun goddess, fighting with her chosen panoply of spear and shield.

Everything else remains the same as the bladedancer except for the level titles which I’m struggling with a little. I don’t want to simply replace Blade- with Spear-, and I want to get more of a Solar feel in them as well. I also want to have some parallels with the Priestess, which I’m going to remodel slightly as well. I’ve not looked over the spell list yet.

So far I’ve got Sunspear at level 6, Illuminata at L14 and Flamebringer at L7 (the first point at which they get access to L5 spells, and Flamestrike). There’s also options like Spear-maiden, Sun-Sister, etc… I’m avoiding connotations of Mother or Daughter, because the Sunspears are less about the maternal nurturing side of Sol and more about the sacred sisterhood in battle, emulating her great deeds etc…

Does anyone have any flashes of inspiration I can borrow?

2

A bit formulaic, but let me know what you think.

1 Acolyte of the Dusk
2 Acolyte of the Dawn
3 Acolyte of the Zenith
4 Serjeant of the Dusk
5 Serjeant of the Dawn
6 Serjeant of the Zenith
7 Knight of the Dusk
8 Knight of the Dawn
9 Knight of the Zenith
10 Captain of the Dusk
11 Captain of the Dawn
12 Captain of the Zenith
13 Shield of Sol
14 Spear of Sol

3

I think something like ‘Dawnspear’ works well for a low-level title. Maybe ‘Dawnbringer’ for slightly higher level. ‘Dusk’ probably doesn’t work for a sun-worshipper. That’s when the sun dies! ‘Summer’ might work okay as a component? ‘Solstice’ too; I don’t like Solstice-spear, but Solstice-sister could be alright. If you want to draw a bit from the Romans, have Illuminata be the general name-level title (“Illuminata level 11”), and “Sol Invictus” for 14th?

4

Thanks both!

I had been deliberately steering away from Dawn/Dusk/Zenith (as well as Eclipse and Twilight) and Sol Invictus, because it has a strong connection to Exalted (for me) and I didn’t want to invoke the same kind of connection in my players (3 of whom have played Exalted).

However, I think maybe that’s just baggage and I should get over it! :slight_smile:

I like Dawnspear, and Dawnbringer is quite evocative too. Acolyte of the Dawn sounds good. Shield of Sol could work for a lower level, or potentially a different class…

My broader thinking is that the 4 overtly ‘Organised Religion’ classes - the Cleric, Paladin, Bladedancer and Priestess (as opposed to the Shaman and the Witch) represent different sects within the larger worship of Sol.

The Sunspears (Bladedancers) are the ‘Heroes’ path.
The Paladins (aka The Golden Knights) are the military order of Sol.
The Priestess embody the aspects of Sol that are about life, motherhood, healing etc…
The Clerics fulfill a role somewhere inbetween them all, being most likely to exist within communities and get involved in politics and people - and are where most of the church hierarchy sits.

The Acolyte/Serjeant/Knight/Captain titles will fit in really well for the Golden Knights I think, and the military feel is much more appropriate for them rather than the more ‘free spirited’ Sunspears.

Having carried on thinking about it yesterday I eventually reached the following. The title after the slash is my working level titles for the Priestess of Sol, to show how the two classes relate in terms of their faith, but differ in terms of its expression:

0 - Spear-carrier / Acolyte
1 - Novice / Novice
2 - Spear-Maiden / Sun-Maiden
3 - Sister-Initiate / Sister-Initiate
4 - Spear-Sister / Sun-Sister
5 - Sister-Disciple / Sister-Disciple
6 - Sunspear / Sun Priestess
7 - Flamecaller / Lifebringer
8 - Mistress of Spears / Mistress of Light
9 - Abbess of Spears / Abbess of Light
14 - Illuminata Hasta (The Illuminated One of Spears) / Illuminata Vita (The Illuminated One of Life)

I’m least happy with L8/9 at the moment, and the L14 titles are meant to represent the fact that the 4 classes will share some kind of overall authority over the church of Sol. So the Paladin and Cleric L14 titles will likely be Illuminata

Though I also really like the title Grand Hierophant as the ultimate spiritual authority…

Now I have to go back and find a place for both your suggestions! :slight_smile: