Unity is a fiction told by the victorious part of the soul.

Core Concept

The Legion are a species born from a permanent, irreconcilable schism. They are the tragic descendants of an Ensemblant swarm that suffered a catastrophic failure of its Synodic Weave. They are no longer a unified “We,” but are instead two or more distinct, warring factions trapped within a single, unstable body. Each faction controls different limbs, different aspects of the personality, and is driven by its own core Belief. The “self” of a Legion is a constant, violent internal negotiation for control, a civil war made flesh. They are a people whose every moment is a battle, and whose only peace is in the temporary exhaustion of their foes.

Physiology & Biology (The Vessel)

The body of a Legion is a physical manifestation of its internal fracture. It is a patchwork of competing wills, a canvas of dissent.

• Core Morphology: [Asymmetrical Construct]. Their form is visibly fractured and often asymmetrical, a stark contrast to the fluid harmony of a true Ensemblant.
• The Fractured Weave: The core of their being is a broken Synodic Weave. The psychic and technological links between their constituent nanites are not gone, but have been split into two or more competing, firewalled networks.
• The Warring Body: This internal division is physically manifest. The nanites controlled by one faction will form and maintain one part of the body, while the nanites of a rival faction will form another.
  • Appearance: One arm, controlled by a militant “Conqueror” faction, might be a blade of sharpened, aggressive chrome. The other arm, controlled by a “Preservationist” faction, might be a delicate, grasping hand designed for repair. Their very posture might be a tense struggle, one side of the body pulling against the other. They may even speak with multiple, overlapping voices, each trying to shout over the others.

Psychology & Society (The Psyche)

A Legion’s mind is a battlefield. They are incapable of forming a stable, unified Faction because they are already a failed one.

• Core Faith: “Dominance is the Only Truth.” Having experienced the collapse of their own collective, they are profoundly cynical about the possibility of true harmony. Their only guiding principle is the temporary dominance of the strongest internal will. They are natural contrarians, their internal factions often defining themselves in direct opposition to one another.
• Core Fiction: “The Memory of the Sundering.” Their only shared story is the traumatic, fragmented recollection of the event that broke their Weave. Each internal faction tells a different version of this story, usually blaming the others for the schism. They are a people defined by a shared trauma that they can never agree upon.
• Free Agents of Chaos: Unable to form stable societies of their own, the Legion are the ultimate free agents, mercenaries, and wild cards of the galaxy. Their internal conflict makes them unpredictable and difficult to manipulate, as the “person” you made a deal with yesterday may not be the one in control today. This same chaos, however, can make them formidable in a fight. An enemy might disable their “gun arm,” only for the pacifist “shield arm” faction to be overruled in the chaos, allowing the gun arm’s network to reroute power and regenerate with terrifying speed.

Gameplay Hooks & Tensions

• The UI as a Civil War: Playing as a Legion is to have your Subjective Interface be a constant warzone. The player’s Needs and Goals are split into competing, on-screen lists that flicker for dominance. You might accept a quest, only for a “rebel” faction’s Goal to appear: [Sabotage this Mission].
• The Body as a Battlefield: Your own body is a source of conflict. Your different limbs, controlled by different factions, may have different stats and abilities. Using the [Blaster Arm] might cause a temporary debuff to the [Shield Arm]. Success in gameplay is about learning to manage, and even exploit, your own internal chaos.
• The Quest for a Truce: The ultimate personal quest for a Legion is not to achieve unity, which they may believe is impossible, but to find a way to broker a temporary truce. This might involve a rare Ritual, a piece of forgotten technology, or a profound psychological breakthrough that allows the warring factions to find a single, momentary point of common ground.

Eidos Generated

• [fracture]
• [civil_war_of_the_self]
• [dissonance]
• [broken_unity]
• [competing_wills]

Design Notes

• The mechanical implications for the UI and gameplay are rich and unique.
• Their status as “free agents” makes them a great source of unpredictable NPCs and a truly challenging and unique player experience.