Machina Dei

The influences of the different factions.

The following was posted on /tg/:

"I think we can build a game on two simple concepts:

1) Ancient Roman Empire 2) Giant Mechs.

Doable?"

This is what resulted.

Tiers

Units in Machina Dei all fall into one of three tiers: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Each Faction has units in each tier.

Primary Tier

The Primary Tier is the most powerful of all tiers. Primary tier units are the upmost limit of power for a faction, and for many factions it is the first thing you think about when you think of them. It is rare for more than a one of these to be in an army, and many armies do jus fine without one.

Secondary Tier

These are the Mid-Level units. They often form the bulk of an army's capability, Almost all armies have a good handful of these.

Tertiary Tier

These are the weakest units. While they're still much more powerful than ordinary civilians, they are vastly inferior to other tiers. Where they make up for it is numbers. Most armies will have more Tertiary units than any other type. In addition, Because of their numbers, Tertiary units can form formations.

Factions

Every group with significant influence is listed here.

Roman

Roman war machine.

The Roman Empire has endured for 800 years under the reign of one Julius Caesar. Upon his ascension to dictator, the god Jupiter descended to show his favor, and Vulcan bequeathed unto the empire hundreds of great suits of armor, many time taller than the tallest men. Caesar used these machines to expand the empire, and the followers of Vulcan learned to create lesser machines of this nature. Now Caesar is old, and his age is finally beginning to show after living for centuries. He has headed east to fight the Chinese, leaving Nero to govern Rome in his stead.

Primary: God Machines

These are the bronze warriors made by Vulcan himself. Each is the size of the Collosus, has the form of a man, and wields a sword and shield of similar proportion. A man must climb inside of one, through the mouth, to pilot it, directing it with the motions of his own body.

Secondary: Man Machines

These machines, while magnificent, pale in comparison to the God Machines. Where the God Machines are made in sleek imitation of human form, these are merely plated things in an upright form Gears and bars are visible through gaps in the armor. They too have sword and shield, though they are smaller. These are the bulk of the roman forces. Unlike other Secondary units, Man Machines can use formations.

Tertiary: Lorica Faulta

Creating the metal warriors is not an easy task, and often it fails. The remainder is used for Lorica Faulta, or Failed Armor. This armor provides good protection, and lends weight to the blows of one who wears it, but it pales in comparison to even the Man Machines.

Christian

Jesus Christ walked the earth freely seven centuries ago. During that time, He healed the sick, taught wisdom, and helped those in need. But he was also critical of the Roman Empire, and so Pontius Pilate, then magister of the lands where Jesus walked, sought to have him killed. A troop of Man Machines were sent to slay him, but any wound merely healed, leaving the Christ yet living and free to speak as he would. So Pontius Pilate acquired the services of 100 smiths of Vulcan, and constructed a great cross, with the power of the gods, that Jesus might be killed. And it was built towering over Jerusalem, and Judas, one of Jesus followers, delivered the Christ onto Pilate for 30 silver. Jesus took his place within the great cross, and was pierced through, and did not heal. But neither did Jesus die, and so he remained there. And so Paul, a follower of Jesus, went out into the lands to tell people the good news which Jesus had taught, and to oppose the Romans.

Primary: Great Angels

At the beginning of the Universe, YHWH created divine beings to serve him. These beings were diverse in form, and mighty in power. Should many Christians die in the name of Jesus, these Angels may come to earth to vanquish the foes of Christ.

Secondary: Heralds

A christian may be bolted into a machine, like the one which holds Christ, and by the power of YHWH be given a new angelic body. It is with no joy that a Christian does this, however, for a death in this form destroys the soul, and a Herald can not linger long on earth to aid those she treasures there.

Tertiary: Christians

The Christians fight with the experience of a thousand lives, for they do not die. Indeed, many Christians still live that walked with Jesus. When a christian dies, she is reborn 3 days later. Scars remain, but YHWH gives his children new body parts should they lose some in his service. As a result, the oldest Christians sparkle with limbs or eyes made of lightning and fire.

Chinese

Primary: Dragons

The dragons rarely deign to intervene in mortal affairs, but when they do, they bring great power into play.

Secondary: Jade Wagons

These heavily armored Jade vehicles have rockets on their sides, and roll on treads. The rockets are devastating weapons, as they launch with force vastly exceeding that of arrows, and can explode on contact, depending on type. They have a serious drawback, however: There are a limited number of them. When all rockets have been fired, the tubes must be reloaded with new rockets. It is rare that this could be accomplished during battle, and the only other possible manner of attacking is for the crew to fight.

Tertiary: Terracotta Warriors

These are armed with pikes and cho-ko-nu.

Indian

Primary: Greater Avatars

Shiva, Mishra, Brahma

Secondary: Lesser Avatars

Ganesha etc

Tertiary: War Elephants

Indian Elephants are used in devastating charges, and they carry archers on their backs. Some are blessed with superior size and extra tusks.

Celtic

When Rome invaded the island of Britain, Neither God Machines nor Man Machines could be brought across the sea. As a result, Celtic Treemen and Woaden were able to repel the Roman troops with minimal losses. Soon after, the Celts launched an assault on northern Gaul. The Romans were caught by surprise, and the Celts successfully seized a legion of Man Machines and established a foothold on the continent.

Primary: Treemen

Massive druidic trees covered in tusks, horns, and various charms

Secondary: Taken Weapons

The Man Machines taken at Gaul bear little resemblance to the originals, plant matter suffuses and powers them now.

Tertiary: Woaden

Warriors wearing Woad paint; it makes them supernaturally resilient. Swords glance of their sides.

Hun

Hun warriors share their bodies with creatures referred to as "spirit-kin". They're bizarre looking creatures with no real similarity or reason to their appearance, when they are outside of a body, but they are considered to be related to humans in soul if not in form. Attila, the current Hun leader, has several spirit-kin wives who share his body.

Huns will merge with a spirit-kin to augment their own powers in battle, and to provide the spirit-kin with a body. The spirit-kin can only endure for a matter of hours without a body to reside in, so they are very grateful for the Hun willingness to host them. They repay the warriors with beneficial mutations, be they as simple as increased size and strength, or more complicated, such as extra limbs, tentacles, mouths or eyes. This takes time, of course, so the oldest of the Huns are also the most powerful, and least human.

Primary: Old Ones

Bigger than most buildings, utterly inhuman.

Secondary: Spirit-kin

These are spirit-kin temporarily outside of their hosts.

Tertiary: Warriors

Merged with a spirit-kin and mounted, they rely primarily on bows. Fairly similar to humans.

Mercenary

Mercenaries are the factions which for whatever reason cannot form their own armies efficiently. They are considered Tertiary units, and may belong to any army.

Norsemen

Runic armor keeps their power from fleeing; it is used to wield immense weapons and kill things better.

Rus

Bear cavalry.

Gauls

Potion fueled warriors, see Asterix and Obelisk.

Jews

Golems. They do not need to be driven, and are powered by the words in their heads.

Bantu

Sub-Saharran Africans. They bind the spirits of animals, such as Lions and Cheetahs, to themselves.

Beduin

The Beduin use bound djinni for their purposes. Djinni have innate control of fire, as they are composed of it. Long ago Solomon bound and commanded many of the djinn for his own purposes; whenever a djinn is found trapped in a bottle, it is likely Solomon who put it there. Of course it's been a thousand years since then, and though some djinn are still bound to rings or bottles or lamps, others have gained greater or lesser measures of freedom since then, and the Bedouin sorcerers often struggle to ensure that the djinn do not act according to their own wishes.