Greater Powers
Character Design
About Greater Powers
Greater Powers is an indie online RPG developed by Darkstar Games, a Californian indie studio. As a sky captain, you fly skyships across the vast astral world, engage in ship battles against other captains, and upgrade your ship and characters.My Involvement
I worked as a part of a writing team and helped write the lore for the game's world, which includes its history, factions, and characters. I collaborated with other writers to write and plan the story campaign. Finally, I collaborated with concept artists to bring characters to life.
Character 1 - Nicola Tesla
Major NPC
Faction
Ivory Tower / Collegia Scholarium
Age
When he arrived from a different realm he was around 40
As of today, his actual age is almost 300 - aging works slower in the Astra Realm
Overview (as shown in the game)
One of the most genius inventors across the Astral Realms. Tesla governs the Collegia Scholarium at the Ivory Tower and is responsible for the majority of its technological achievements over the last century. Yet, his genius comes with a decent portion of vanity and arrogance. Tesla regards the Middle Lands populace as “primitives” and believes that everything he does is for their own good, even if it means ruling them with an iron fist.
Personality Traits
Arrogant, Anti-social, Paranoid, Distrusful, Neurotic, “Lone wolf”
Temperament
Nicola Tesla is known to his colleagues as quite a melancholic person. He is usually quiet and hardly sociable, and experiences drastic mood changes several times a day. When it comes to working with colleagues, he doesn’t like to share the details of his plans, believing those are “unnecessary to know yet”. When they insist, he gets quickly irritated.
Backstory
Nikola Tesla’s background prior to his appearance in the Ivory Tower is shrouded in mystery. Some claim he came from another realm. Others believe he arrived from a grim future and intends to change it. What is known is that from the moment he arrived, Tesla proved to be a genius. He introduced the Astral Realms to technology, mainly electricity. The inhabitants of the Middle Lands no longer needed to rely on the sun for light because streets were lit with lanterns. They no longer needed to endure the winter cold because Tesla invented generators that produced heat.
Tesla’s greatest technological achievement was mechanoids - animated mechanical constructs that obeyed human commands. He worked along with the authorities to integrate the mechanoid as a police force - they would maintain order across the Middle Lands. Over time, Tesla’s army of machines gave a huge military advantage to the Ivory Tower. With several factories hidden beneath the Ivory Tower, Tesla produced an army of those war machines.
In his previous life, Nicola Tesla used to be a misunderstood genius. He wanted to make the world better but could not prosper in a world driven by profit. Tesla’s new life in the Astral Realms, a world driven by power, gave him amazing opportunities to make his dream come true. He improved the lives of all people across the Middle Lands.
However, as he grew to be the most powerful and respected man in the realm, Tesla grew vain and arrogant. He started exceeding his authority, ignoring the Ivory Council’s will, and acting on his own. As the tensions between him and the council escalated, the authorities started fearing him. After all, Tesla had an army of machines that obeyed his commands. It became even more prevalent when this army of mechanoids repelled the attack of the Olympian Gods.
With so much power at hand, Tesla became the most powerful man in the Astral Realms. The more his influence grew, the more secluded and paranoid Tesla became. He started seeing conspiracies against him everywhere and even threatened to take over the Ivory Council by force.
Strengths
Nicola Tesla is a brilliant scientist and engineer. He doesn’t take “magic” for granted and always tries to delve deeper to understand how things work in nature.
Weaknesses
Tesla is awkward and anti-social. He is a difficult person to work with. He is aware of it but has nothing to do with it. He feels isolated from his peers because they hardly understand him.
Fears
Tesla fears making mistakes. He is afraid of malfunctions. As such, he double-checks everything to make it perfect. He knows that even a single miscalculation can cost him dearly.
Habits
- Tesla walks a lot, mainly across his room or across the scholarium building. It makes players difficult to find him sometimes
- Tesla talks to himself a lot. When the players don’t talk to him directly, they can hear him
Speech/Vocabulary
Tesla’s mind runs faster than his speech. Many times he never finishes speaking out his thoughts and rushes to act or change to the next subject. The speech itself is messy and often uses unclear language of scientific terms.
Appearance (outfit, face, skin color, modification, tattoos and etc)
Nikola Tesla looks like a neglected middle-aged man with an unkempt attitude.
He doesn’t shave, his hair is messy.
He has blue bags under his eyes, which gives away the fact that he barely gets out of his chamber.
His posture is slouched
His outfit reminds a working man, an engineer, rather than a head of scholarium
Sample Dialogue Lines
- “There are hundreds of bored scholars in the Tower, yet you chose to come here and bother ME! This better be important.“
- “Make it short and to the point.“
- “The Council is nothing but a bunch of noble buffoons!“
- “I made all your lives easier. Why are you making mine harder? Stop asking silly questions and do some research!“
- “University. It exists. Attend it.“
- “Books. They exist. Read them.“
Ivory Tower / Collegia Scholarium
Age
When he arrived from a different realm he was around 40
As of today, his actual age is almost 300 - aging works slower in the Astra Realm
Overview (as shown in the game)
One of the most genius inventors across the Astral Realms. Tesla governs the Collegia Scholarium at the Ivory Tower and is responsible for the majority of its technological achievements over the last century. Yet, his genius comes with a decent portion of vanity and arrogance. Tesla regards the Middle Lands populace as “primitives” and believes that everything he does is for their own good, even if it means ruling them with an iron fist.
Personality Traits
Arrogant, Anti-social, Paranoid, Distrusful, Neurotic, “Lone wolf”
Temperament
Nicola Tesla is known to his colleagues as quite a melancholic person. He is usually quiet and hardly sociable, and experiences drastic mood changes several times a day. When it comes to working with colleagues, he doesn’t like to share the details of his plans, believing those are “unnecessary to know yet”. When they insist, he gets quickly irritated.
Backstory
Nikola Tesla’s background prior to his appearance in the Ivory Tower is shrouded in mystery. Some claim he came from another realm. Others believe he arrived from a grim future and intends to change it. What is known is that from the moment he arrived, Tesla proved to be a genius. He introduced the Astral Realms to technology, mainly electricity. The inhabitants of the Middle Lands no longer needed to rely on the sun for light because streets were lit with lanterns. They no longer needed to endure the winter cold because Tesla invented generators that produced heat.
Tesla’s greatest technological achievement was mechanoids - animated mechanical constructs that obeyed human commands. He worked along with the authorities to integrate the mechanoid as a police force - they would maintain order across the Middle Lands. Over time, Tesla’s army of machines gave a huge military advantage to the Ivory Tower. With several factories hidden beneath the Ivory Tower, Tesla produced an army of those war machines.
In his previous life, Nicola Tesla used to be a misunderstood genius. He wanted to make the world better but could not prosper in a world driven by profit. Tesla’s new life in the Astral Realms, a world driven by power, gave him amazing opportunities to make his dream come true. He improved the lives of all people across the Middle Lands.
However, as he grew to be the most powerful and respected man in the realm, Tesla grew vain and arrogant. He started exceeding his authority, ignoring the Ivory Council’s will, and acting on his own. As the tensions between him and the council escalated, the authorities started fearing him. After all, Tesla had an army of machines that obeyed his commands. It became even more prevalent when this army of mechanoids repelled the attack of the Olympian Gods.
With so much power at hand, Tesla became the most powerful man in the Astral Realms. The more his influence grew, the more secluded and paranoid Tesla became. He started seeing conspiracies against him everywhere and even threatened to take over the Ivory Council by force.
Strengths
Nicola Tesla is a brilliant scientist and engineer. He doesn’t take “magic” for granted and always tries to delve deeper to understand how things work in nature.
Weaknesses
Tesla is awkward and anti-social. He is a difficult person to work with. He is aware of it but has nothing to do with it. He feels isolated from his peers because they hardly understand him.
Fears
Tesla fears making mistakes. He is afraid of malfunctions. As such, he double-checks everything to make it perfect. He knows that even a single miscalculation can cost him dearly.
Habits
- Tesla walks a lot, mainly across his room or across the scholarium building. It makes players difficult to find him sometimes
- Tesla talks to himself a lot. When the players don’t talk to him directly, they can hear him
Speech/Vocabulary
Tesla’s mind runs faster than his speech. Many times he never finishes speaking out his thoughts and rushes to act or change to the next subject. The speech itself is messy and often uses unclear language of scientific terms.
Appearance (outfit, face, skin color, modification, tattoos and etc)
Nikola Tesla looks like a neglected middle-aged man with an unkempt attitude.
He doesn’t shave, his hair is messy.
He has blue bags under his eyes, which gives away the fact that he barely gets out of his chamber.
His posture is slouched
His outfit reminds a working man, an engineer, rather than a head of scholarium
Sample Dialogue Lines
- “There are hundreds of bored scholars in the Tower, yet you chose to come here and bother ME! This better be important.“
- “Make it short and to the point.“
- “The Council is nothing but a bunch of noble buffoons!“
- “I made all your lives easier. Why are you making mine harder? Stop asking silly questions and do some research!“
- “University. It exists. Attend it.“
- “Books. They exist. Read them.“
Character 2 - Aries
Secondary Antagonist
Faction
House Aries
Age
Over 10 thousand years old
Overview
Aries is one of the most powerful Elder Gods of the Astral Realm and the founder of the House of Aries. He used to rule it, until Mars, his nephew, dethroned him and banished him to Tartarus. Aries seeks to escape his prison, avenge his nephew and gain control over the Middle Lands.
Personality Traits
Arrogant, Impudent, Narcissistic, Megalomaniac
Temperament
Aries’s temperament can be described as a mix of anxious and impulsive. He is a melancholic demigod who usually acts calmly and accumulates anger. From time to time, he gives way to aggression and does so on completely random occasions. His rage, when subsides, transforms into blind arrogance. He seeks to punish those who wronged him. This way he heals his hurt ego.
Backstory
Aries was a powerful half-dragon half-titan, one of the Old Gods who rebelled against the Titans and ruled over the Astral Realms for millennia. When Zeus the Light Bringer formed the new order, Aries was entrusted to rule the Lower Plains, even though he wanted to rule the Middle Lands. He felt as if he was given a low-hanging fruit, the lowest possible reward for his immense contribution in defeating the Titans. Aries always plotted to take over the Middle Lands and extend his absolute rule over them. All he needed was an opportunity.
Such an opportunity came in the face of his nephew Mars, who convinced him the Ivory Tower had been weakened over the years and would fall under Aries’s wrath. Sacrificing thousands of mortal souls he manifested in his pure physical form - a powerful Titan capable of crushing a Sky Kraken with his bare hands. Arrogant and convinced of his invincibility, Aries invaded the Ivory Tower. No human armies could stand against him as he slaughtered his way towards the Tower.
Once he reached the tower, Aries confronted three rabbit golems. He laughed. Was that all the Ivory Tower put against him? But moments later, these golems combined into a huge mechanical reaver called Mechabunnicus. The giant construct slew the mighty Titan and saved the Ivory Tower and probably the entire realm.
Since Titans couldn't be killed in the Mortal Realm, Aries was banished to Tartarus. Only then did he realize he was led into a trap by his nephew Mars. In Aries’s absence, Mars ascended his uncle’s throne and became the new ruler of the House of Aries. Ever since, Aries seeks to escape Tartarus, avenge his nephew, and gain control over the Middle Lands.
Strengths
Aries is strong in combat, probably one of the strongest beings in the Astral Realms. His strength comes from experience, as he slew Titans beyond count. For thousands of years, many gods challenged him. None of them stood a chance. Not until his infamous defeat at the Ivory Tower.
Weaknesses
Aries grew too arrogant and too confident in his abilities. He has become detached from reality and therefore, underestimates humans.
Fears
After being defeated by Mechabunnicus, Aries has developed a fear of bunnies. These cute animals remind him of the worst day in his long life.
Habits
Aries is a warrior who uses every minute of his spare time to train his combat skills. Not just for perfecting them, but rather imagining his sworn enemies falling by his sword.
Speech/Vocabulary
Aries speaks slowly, emphasizing every word, expecting everyone to listen to him patiently. He expresses himself clearly and cohesively, using clean and relatively high language.
Appearance (outfit, face, skin color, modification, tattoos and etc)
Aries looks like half a dragon, a mix of a dragon and a titan.
He walks straight but has dragon legs, a tail, and wings.
His upper body and head resemble a humanoid.
Wields a strong two-handed weapon (axe, polearm, sword) engulfed in fire.
Combat
Aries is first a boss in the game, then a friendly NPC.
As a boss, he engages in melee range, swings his weapon, and uses the following abilities:
- Lunges at the player and attempts to hit.
- Jumps high into the sky and lands at a certain location.
- Teleports behind the players.
- When he loses enough HP, Aries engulfs himself in fire and casts close-ranged fire attacks - fireball and fire breath.
- Activates the whirlwind mode - spins around damaging everything in his wake and charges at the players. The players can’t damage him while he is in this state.
Sample Dialogue Lines
- “The Ivory Tower will fall!“
- “You wish to help me? You?! I fought Titans long before you frail kind learned to talk! The best you can do is serve me, mortal!“
- “How dare you question my wisdom?“
- “Bunnies are an abomination! The worst of mortal creatures in Astral Realms!“
- “No prison can hold me forever, Mars! You know that! Don’t you fear the day I break free and pay my dear nephew a visit?“
House Aries
Age
Over 10 thousand years old
Overview
Aries is one of the most powerful Elder Gods of the Astral Realm and the founder of the House of Aries. He used to rule it, until Mars, his nephew, dethroned him and banished him to Tartarus. Aries seeks to escape his prison, avenge his nephew and gain control over the Middle Lands.
Personality Traits
Arrogant, Impudent, Narcissistic, Megalomaniac
Temperament
Aries’s temperament can be described as a mix of anxious and impulsive. He is a melancholic demigod who usually acts calmly and accumulates anger. From time to time, he gives way to aggression and does so on completely random occasions. His rage, when subsides, transforms into blind arrogance. He seeks to punish those who wronged him. This way he heals his hurt ego.
Backstory
Aries was a powerful half-dragon half-titan, one of the Old Gods who rebelled against the Titans and ruled over the Astral Realms for millennia. When Zeus the Light Bringer formed the new order, Aries was entrusted to rule the Lower Plains, even though he wanted to rule the Middle Lands. He felt as if he was given a low-hanging fruit, the lowest possible reward for his immense contribution in defeating the Titans. Aries always plotted to take over the Middle Lands and extend his absolute rule over them. All he needed was an opportunity.
Such an opportunity came in the face of his nephew Mars, who convinced him the Ivory Tower had been weakened over the years and would fall under Aries’s wrath. Sacrificing thousands of mortal souls he manifested in his pure physical form - a powerful Titan capable of crushing a Sky Kraken with his bare hands. Arrogant and convinced of his invincibility, Aries invaded the Ivory Tower. No human armies could stand against him as he slaughtered his way towards the Tower.
Once he reached the tower, Aries confronted three rabbit golems. He laughed. Was that all the Ivory Tower put against him? But moments later, these golems combined into a huge mechanical reaver called Mechabunnicus. The giant construct slew the mighty Titan and saved the Ivory Tower and probably the entire realm.
Since Titans couldn't be killed in the Mortal Realm, Aries was banished to Tartarus. Only then did he realize he was led into a trap by his nephew Mars. In Aries’s absence, Mars ascended his uncle’s throne and became the new ruler of the House of Aries. Ever since, Aries seeks to escape Tartarus, avenge his nephew, and gain control over the Middle Lands.
Strengths
Aries is strong in combat, probably one of the strongest beings in the Astral Realms. His strength comes from experience, as he slew Titans beyond count. For thousands of years, many gods challenged him. None of them stood a chance. Not until his infamous defeat at the Ivory Tower.
Weaknesses
Aries grew too arrogant and too confident in his abilities. He has become detached from reality and therefore, underestimates humans.
Fears
After being defeated by Mechabunnicus, Aries has developed a fear of bunnies. These cute animals remind him of the worst day in his long life.
Habits
Aries is a warrior who uses every minute of his spare time to train his combat skills. Not just for perfecting them, but rather imagining his sworn enemies falling by his sword.
Speech/Vocabulary
Aries speaks slowly, emphasizing every word, expecting everyone to listen to him patiently. He expresses himself clearly and cohesively, using clean and relatively high language.
Appearance (outfit, face, skin color, modification, tattoos and etc)
Aries looks like half a dragon, a mix of a dragon and a titan.
He walks straight but has dragon legs, a tail, and wings.
His upper body and head resemble a humanoid.
Wields a strong two-handed weapon (axe, polearm, sword) engulfed in fire.
Combat
Aries is first a boss in the game, then a friendly NPC.
As a boss, he engages in melee range, swings his weapon, and uses the following abilities:
- Lunges at the player and attempts to hit.
- Jumps high into the sky and lands at a certain location.
- Teleports behind the players.
- When he loses enough HP, Aries engulfs himself in fire and casts close-ranged fire attacks - fireball and fire breath.
- Activates the whirlwind mode - spins around damaging everything in his wake and charges at the players. The players can’t damage him while he is in this state.
Sample Dialogue Lines
- “The Ivory Tower will fall!“
- “You wish to help me? You?! I fought Titans long before you frail kind learned to talk! The best you can do is serve me, mortal!“
- “How dare you question my wisdom?“
- “Bunnies are an abomination! The worst of mortal creatures in Astral Realms!“
- “No prison can hold me forever, Mars! You know that! Don’t you fear the day I break free and pay my dear nephew a visit?“
