In this section I will outline some of the ideas we used in our campaign using the Tactics Engine, here I will introduce you to characters and give an outline on the customization and builds used for each character.
The son of a wealthy merchant, Aquila was caught up in the story early on when he tried to sell a relic important to the church. Aquila's story begins in Goug, his father sent him off to make his first trade to mark his coming of age. The artifact/relic that Aquila's father gave him was an old, very large suit of armor with strange markings. Goug is the home to many master machinists, so Aquila set off to have it appraised. In Goug, Aquila meets up with the eccentric but kind hearted Artemis Necessetor, apprentice to a great and well known machinist.
During his stay at Goug, Aquila also meets a gruff and ill mannered old knight by the name of Cid. After his chance encounter with the old knight he heads to the inn to make lodging arrangements where he encounters the priest in training Sasha (Sasha is a man by the way) and a squire by the name of Ike.
At the inn the three encounter a group of rough knights sent there by the church, when Aquila confronts them about their rudeness to the host a fight erupts and three barely escape. It is revealed that the knights are there on orders of the church to recover an ancient relic of the church, the Wings of Death, by Sasha. Aquila, in fear that the armor (and his profit) were in danger, rushes back to the machinists hut to protect it. Aquila and the others are greeted by Artemis just before they are ambushed by a group of knights, the four prove to be more than the knights can handle and are defeated, leaving little time for the four to escape. Artemis' master entrusts to him an ancient tome written in an archaic language that he only partly understands, he also instructs them to hide the armor in the airship graveyard and that he would tell the church that it was stolen and taken through the swamp.
This is how Aquila came to be involved in the story.
Aquila's character was a squire/knight that had a custom class tailored to him intended for later use. His build was meant to make use of melee attacks and skills for close quarter combat.
Artemis enjoyed scholarly pursuits, though an introvert, he cannot deny his friendly nature. Artemis became involved around when Aquila, Sasha and Ike came back for the armor.
Artemis studied under various machinists in Goug, each one specializing in different areas. His studies finally brought him to a machinist (unfortunately he never developed a name) who specialized in reviving ancient technology and deciphering the language of the machine. Artemis, though already a proficient machinist, studied diligently under his master daily, stopping only to rest.
The language of the machine was what we called it in the campaign, it consisted of reading archaic blueprints and identifying symbols on machines, usually activation symbols. Unfortunately, most ancient technology required a power source (the holy stones) in order to work. Among the things that Artemis knew about this language, identifying the twelve activation systems was one of his specialties.
On their journey Artemis often came in handy when deciphering riddles or puzzles to unlock doors/treasures, most notably when he unlocked the holy stone required for the activation of the armor. Another of Artemis' most note worth feats was repairing an airship from underneath Goug from a state of complete disarray.
Artemis' character build was based off of some squire abilities, later switching over to the machinist class. Artemis, being frail and lanky, specialized in fighting from afar, making use of abilities like throw stone. Later in the campaign Artemis invents a crude pistol, trying to replicate the ancient technology in the book that his master entrusted to him.
Sasha was on a pilgrimage to Orbonne monastary that led him through Goug. Sasha's most notable trait (besides his unusual name) was his pacifistic attitude which often times caused him trouble. Sasha became involved in the story at the inn, he just finished helping Ike with a task that his knight sent him to accomplish (Ike was a squire). Aquila's brash and righteous attitude made an impression on Sasha immediately, and he resolved to help him escape (as long as it did not involve fighting).
After the incident with hiding the armor Sasha feared excommunication from the church for his actions, both as a way to atone and flee from the pursuing church officials Sasha joined Aquila on his journey.
Unfortunately Sasha was not a highly developed character in the campaign (he didn't participate in combat very often because of his [and his players] pacifistic attitude) so his experience and job points were far and few between. Sasha was meant to multi-class in chemist (healing items) and later in Priest (for the white magic)
