The Inherited Burden

The Master’s Will is a Ghost.

Core Concept

A constructed race of servants who have outlived their masters. Their entire existence is defined by a purpose they no longer have and a history they did not author. They explore themes of inherited trauma, free will, and the search for a new identity.

Physiology & Biology

Large, powerful beings constructed from stone, clay, and scrap metal, animated by a captured, recycled elemental or psychic energy. They do not age or reproduce, but slowly decay over millennia. Their bodies are often inscribed with the runes of their long-dead creators.

Psychology & Society (Faith / Fiction)

Core Faith: They are haunted by their original programming. Their core Beliefs are not their own, but are fragments of their creators’ ideology. One Golem might be bound by a Belief to “Protect the Tomb,” even though the tomb has been empty for ten thousand years.

Core Fiction: Their society is a schism between two factions. The Loyalists believe their only purpose is to continue their ancient duties, maintaining crumbling ruins in an endless, futile ritual. The Freethinkers believe the death of the Masters freed them, and they desperately seek to create a new purpose for themselves, a quest for a soul of their own.

Gameplay Hooks & Tensions

Playing as a Golem involves a constant struggle against an inherited Goal. The player might have a perpetual, low-level quest to “Guard this Post” that they must actively fight against to pursue their own desires.

Their main narrative arc is one of self-discovery and re-authorship. Can they Interpret the runes on their own body in a new way? Can they perform a Ritual to sever their connection to their creators’ ghost?

Eidos Generated

• [servitude]
• [obsolescence]
• [inherited_trauma]
• [free_will]
• [forging_purpose]

Design Notes

Overall Vibe Rating: 9/10

• Beautiful, poignant use of themes.
• -1 : Simply calling them “Golems” is a bit dull I think; in the original draft they were called “The Golems of Gehenna” which was way too on the nose, but it feels like a missed opportunity as is. Something encoding the original name concept into a compound word or a less common idiom would be cool. Perhaps drawing inspiration from how “Artificers of Arboria” became simply “Arboreans”.

TODO: better name, more content