Starborn (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

The Starborn are individuals chosen by cosmic forces, celestial entities, or the very stars themselves. Their power flows from the vast expanse of the universe, representing a higher calling that transcends the mortal world. Unlike warlocks, who are bound by pacts with darker, more tangible entities, the Starborn draw from the ethereal and mysterious energy of the cosmos. Their mission is often tied to protecting balance, spreading light, or fulfilling a destiny that was written in the stars long before their birth, but is not predictable or clear and might even be a dark doom.

Touchstones

Various cosmic heroes, magical girls.

Trauma Condition - Transformation

You can only use your playbook items and powers when you are in your heroic identity. A heroic identity is an easily identifiable costume that displays your identity, but becasue of its distinctiveness, makes it impossible to identify you as starborn when you are not wearing it. When you change into your heroic identity, you always have a light load. Anything you wore before disappears and is restored when you leave your heroic identity. You use your powers by calling out their names along with dramatic gestures.

Special Abilities

1. Casual Blaster When you use a power to make an attack that is fine and/or potent, you can opt to remove these qualities. For each quality you choose not to use, the stress cost and die requirement of that power use is each reduced by one.
2. Martyr: You can protect (rulebook p 135) anyone you can see, taking the harm coming their way. You can protect your crew and those close to you even if you cannot see them—you intuitively know they are in danger. You can protect several people from the same consequence at once up to the scale of your tier (p 221) at the cost of increasing the consequence by one category. You can still resist these consequences normally.
3. Power of Desperation: When you roll a desperate action when using powers, you get +1d to your roll.
4. Radiant Protection You may expend your special armor to resist harm, or to push yourself using Finesse.
5. Secret Identity: Starborn are hard to recognize when out of uniform, but you are impossible to identify. When not in your heroic identity, no power can detect that you are starborn, and people, including enemies, will invent all kinds of silly explanations for how you ended up where you are and how you are obviously not related to the events at hand.
6. Spirit Ally You have a spirit ally you can summon using Advanced Attune powers. You have an established relationship with this creature, which gives you +2d on Attune checks against it. Your ally will advance in tier as you do.
7. Spirit Guide: Your Guide is imbued with additional spirit energy. It can transform into a mount for you and gains potency when tracking or fighting the supernatural, and gains an arcane ability: true-path, mind-link, or arrow-swift. Take this ability again to choose an additional arcane ability for your pet.
8. Powers Air, Animal, Barrier, Darkness, Death, Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Flux, Illusion, Kinesis, Life, Light, Metal, Mind, Order, Plant, Space, Time, and Water.

Supporting Cast

˄ ˅ Arlyn, a starborn.

˄ ˅ Fenn, a pawn of fate.

˄ ˅ Joran, a relative.

˄ ˅ Lennox, a reporter.

˄ ˅ Tavin, a tailor.

Items

◯ Guide: A familiar, a sapient item or a small animal that acts as a guide to your destiny.

☐ A wand that accumulates power as you face adversity. Recover 1 stress each time you suffer a consequence when holding it.

☐ A gift that increases the effect of a Sway roll.

◯ Stylish shoes that allow very high jumps.

◯ Mobile phone that can call a friend anywhere from anywhere as long as it doesn't break the plot.

☐ A fine hobby item.

• Guide ◯: A small animal pet or talking item that acts as a guide to your destiny, tough it is either secretive or poorly informed. It is a cohort (Expert: Storyteller). See p 96.
• Fine Hobby Item ☐: An item related to your hobby or interests, potentially useful on a score. As a fine item, it increases effect. Typical items might be a musical instrument, camera, sewing kit, electronics kit, paints, lockpick kit, skateboard, and the like. Not a weapon.

XP

• Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action's attribute.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that item occurred multiple times.

• You addressed a challenge with friendship or powers.
• You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
• You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.

Starting Actions

Finesse 2

Sway 1

4 points by choice, no higher than 2 in any one