Characters¶
Supplementary to WorldbuildingSynthesis. Roster of the playable party, with per-character pages collecting both lore and combat archetype. For the party's interpersonal web — who trusts whom, who clashes, and how those bonds shift — see Party Relationships. For how the party fights together — dynamics, role coverage, synergy — see Party Combat.
In the world of Prima Materia, characters are bound together by shared trauma, conflicting loyalties, and the desperate need to find meaning in a reality forever changed. Each character's unconscious desires — Lione's need for family, Adam's hunger for genuine approval, Sophia's yearning for belonging — create the emotional undercurrents that drive personal growth. These bonds become both the party's greatest strength and most vulnerable weakness.
The Party¶
| Character | Title | Combat Archetype |
|---|---|---|
| Cyrus | The Seeker | Positional Striker — displaces enemies and punishes them for where they stand |
| Vaughn | The Hawk | Opportunist — multi-strike marker and party tempo engine |
| Phaidros | Second Gnosis | Geomancer-Warrior — front-line anchor, reactive tank, armor-granter |
| Paidi | The Mystic | Harmonic Monk — resource-stance healer and party rhythm |
| Lione | The Changeling | Adaptive Mimic — ability theft and a compounding library |
| Euphen | The Wanderer | Phase-Trapper — ranged marker, traps, stealth |
| Chiranjeevi | The Outsider | Vanarite Shapeshifter — per-turn transformation chains |
| Sophia | The Torrent | Dragoon Diver — aerial single-target burst and water terrain |
| Adam (optional) | The Supreme | Encyclopedist — universal spellbook, brief and devastating |
Combat Archetype Design¶
Each character's combat archetype on their individual page follows a shared design vocabulary. Three patterns recur across the cast:
- Multi-paradigm. Every character has a primary combat identity and 1–3 secondary paradigms. A player can specialize toward a secondary via the skills-based progression system; the character's fantasy stays consistent, but the center of gravity shifts.
- Selectable Momentum. A character's Momentum is their personal trigger for generating an extra AP on a specific condition. Most characters offer multiple Momentum options tied to different paradigms — pick the one that matches how you're playing them.
- Tie rule. When multiple party members' Momentums would fire on the same triggering event (most commonly a killing blow), only one fires — awarded to the character whose action was the primary cause of the trigger.
- Status specialization is tentative. Each character is signposted toward certain status effects (Bleed, Burn, Mark, Stun, etc.), but the divvy is provisional pending mechanical playtest.
For party-wide coverage, synergies, and friction points, see Party Combat.
Key Non-Party Figures¶
See Factions — Key Figures for the Collective's leadership. Other notable figures:
- Kadmos — A figure from the early post-Disruption era who created the first ampoules and used them to prolong his own life. Also developed beam weapons known only to the Collective's highest echelons. He is believed to still be alive, somewhere out in the wilderness.
- Batuo — Leader of the Elpidi who led them through the Forest to safety in the Swamp two centuries ago.