In a galaxy torn by the Rift and endless guild wars, loyalty is a commodity bought, sold, and frequently broken. You are a Defector—a soldier, agent, or zealot who walked away from the cause. Maybe you were a Veskarium legionnaire who couldn't stomach one last purge, a Corpse Fleet marine who remembered the warmth of life, or a corporate enforcer who realized the pension plan was a lie.
Now, you live in the margins. You know how armies move, how patrols sweep a sector, and exactly how long it takes for a thermal sensor to cycle. You’ve scraped the insignia off your armor, but the phantom weight of the uniform remains. To the factions you left, you are a traitor to be hunted; to the crew you fly with now, you are a weapon with a history.
Signature Customs
Scrubbed Gear: Defectors aggressively modify their old kit, filing off serial numbers, painting over crests, and mixing armor pieces to break the silhouette of their former unit.
The "Shadow Check": A reflex to check exits and sightlines immediately upon entering any room—a habit formed from years of expecting a retrieval squad.
Dead Drops: Using military-grade cypher signals to leave messages for old contacts who might also be looking for a way out.
Defector Background
Source Galaxy Guide pg. 101
You were a soldier in a formidable military force until you had a change of heart for one reason or another. You've given up your rank, and perhaps now you've allied with the people you were recently fighting against.
Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.
You're trained in the Stealth skill and the Warfare Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Stalker skill feat.
Non-Combat Applications
Tactical Insight: You can read a security checkpoint or a mercenary blockade not just as an obstacle, but as a deployed unit with standard operating procedures to exploit.
Black Market Legitimacy: You know exactly what military surplus is worth and can spot a counterfeit heavy weapon from across the bazaar.
Signal Analysis: Your knowledge of warfare includes the encrypted chatter of fleet movements, allowing you to intercept and interpret distress calls or patrol routes that others would miss.
Societal Impact
Defectors are the loose threads in the galaxy's power tapestry. A single Defector with the right clearance codes can topple a planetary governor or leak the coordinates of a secret shipyard. As such, they are often viewed with a mix of awe and suspicion. Guilds pay handsomely for their intel but rarely trust them with the keys to the vault. In the lawless zones like the Diaspora, Defector colonies have sprung up—entire stations of ex-soldiers who have sworn a pact of neutrality, defending only their own right to disappear.
Adventure Hooks
The Retrieval: A "kill squad" from your old unit has tracked you down, not to execute you, but to beg for your help in extracting the rest of your squad before they are deployed to a suicide mission in the Rift.
The Burned Code: You recognize a jammer signal used by a local pirate gang—it’s an old distress frequency from your former faction, meaning they are either backed by your old commanders or have captured their tech.
The Liability: A bounty is posted for a generic "war criminal" that matches your description perfectly, but the crimes listed are ones you know your superior officer committed. You have the data to prove it, but releasing it will reveal your location.
Whether seeking redemption or just a quiet corner of the void, the Defector proves that the most dangerous weapon in Starfall is a soldier with a conscience.
Comments
Post a Comment