Star-Knight Belmarniss Rycast's page

You’ve read extensively about the physics of the sun and its associated planes and the best theories about how they interact to produce the solar environment. You’ve also made a study of every sun-based religion of the Pact Worlds, from the Church of the Dawnflower down to the most primitive sun cult. Reduce the DC of Physical Science checks to recall knowledge about scientific questions concerning the sun and light by 5. Reduce the DC of Mysticism checks to recall knowledge about sun-focused religions, the Elemental Plane of Fire, and the Positive Energy Plane by 5. Perception is a class skill for you, though if it is a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead gain a +1 bonus to Perception checks. In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Wisdom at character creation.

Though nothing is truly constant in the universe, stars are one of the few celestial bodies whose positioning within their systems rarely changes. Like the sun’s ineffable mass, you will not be moved from your proper mental space. You gain a +1 bonus to Will saving throws against compulsion effects.

You have learned to thrive in the heat of the sun, and when you are burned, you can funnel some of that fiery energy into your own spells and weapons. Whenever you take fire damage, you can increase the amount of fire damage you deal as part of an attack or spell made before the end of your next turn by an amount equal to one-quarter the damage you just took (rounded down, minimum 1).

Your studies of the fundamental forces of the galaxy have enabled you to enhance one of your body’s systems to benefit from the energy of stored spells. You might have been bestowed this augmentation by an order of technomancers, implanted the augmentation into yourself as part of your research, or witnessed part of your body undergo a technomantic apotheosis that left you with the ability to cast spells. Your cache augmentation takes the form of any cybernetic augmentation or magitech augmentation (Starfinder Armory 90) of your choice with an item level of 1. Each time you gain a level, the item level of your augmentation increases by 1, and you can replace it with a different augmentation with an item level equal to your technomancer level or lower. This augmentation counts toward the total number of augmentations you can have implanted into each of your body’s systems as normal.

At 6th level, each time you regain your spells, choose one of the following: attack rolls, Computers and Engineering checks, Fortitude saves, or Reflex saves. You gain a +1 enhancement bonus to rolls of your chosen type. This enhancement bonus increases to +2 at 12th level and +3 at 18th level.

You gain Spell Focus as a bonus feat.

You rewire your mind to give you greater insight into the nature of magic and technology. You gain a +1 insight bonus to Computers and Mysticism checks. This bonus increases by 1 at 6th level and every 3 levels thereafter.

You gain the Weapon Specialization feat as a bonus feat for each weapon type this class grants you proficiency with.

As a champion of a knightly order, you can focus your fury and attention on a single foe, forcing it to face your wrath. As a full action, you can move up to your speed and make a single attack against a foe able to see and hear you. If you have the trick attack class feature and the weapon you use qualifies for a trick attack, you can make this attack as a trick attack. Whether or not you move or make an attack, you can attempt to demoralize that foe, as per the Intimidate skill task. If your base attack bonus is greater than your total Intimidate skill bonus, you can use your base attack bonus in place of your total Intimidate bonus for this skill check. If you succeed at this check, for the duration of the shaken effect, the target is also off-target for any attack it makes that does not include you as a target. Once you use this ability against a foe, regardless of the result of your demoralize attempt, you can’t use it on that target again for 24 hours.

You have carefully studied the forces that define magic and can manipulate them. You learn your first magic hack at 2nd level, and you learn an additional magic hack every 3 levels thereafter. When casting a spell, you can apply no more than one magic hack that affects the attributes of a spell (such as distant spell or extended spell). If a magic hack allows a saving throw to resist its effects, the DC is equal to 10 + half your technomancer level + your Intelligence modifier. The list of magic hacks appears starting on page 120.

Empowered Weapon (Su): As a move action, you can expend an unused spell slot to reconfigure and enhance a weapon you’re wielding. Until the start of your next turn, your attacks with the enhanced weapon gain a bonus to attack rolls equal to the level of the spell slot you expended. In addition, your attacks with that weapon deal 1d6 additional damage per level of the expended spell slot. This damage is of the same type the weapon normally deals.

A Knight of Golarion can choose the holy attack alternate class feature. As a standard action, you can apply the holy weapon fusion to any weapon of 2nd level or higher that you wield. You can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day at 9th level and every 3 levels thereafter. The weapon fusion remains active until the weapon becomes unattended or is wielded by another creature, or until you take a 10-minute rest to regain Stamina Points. This weapon fusion does not count toward the maximum number of levels of weapons fusions a weapon can have at once.

Your dedication to your order and your advanced training has strengthened your mind against certain effects. Once per day, when targeted by a mind-affecting effect that requires a saving throw, you can roll twice and take the better result.

Belmarniss opens combat by casting fabricate scrap on a nearby object, then casting junksword on the created scrap to generate her weapon of choice. She prefers to flank opponents and aid them in fighting tactically, as she knows her own stamina can't match theirs yet. She will also cast jolting surge if it looks like the opponent has electrical gear she can target with it. If out of spells or forced to fight at range, Belmarniss will throw her handaxe repeatedly, calling it back to her with its fusion.

[dice=Junksword]1d20+14[/dice]
[dice=Bludgeoning+Slashing Damage]2d8+17[/dice]
[dice=Electricity Damage]3d4+17[/dice]

[dice=Jolting Surge (Touch)]1d20+14+2[/dice]
[dice=Electricity Damage]4d6[/dice]

[dice=Basic Handaxe]1d20+14[/dice]
[dice=Slashing Damage]1d4+14[/dice]

Belmarniss fits well in the Pilot, Engineer or Science Officer roles, depending on the makeup of her party.

[dice=Athletics]1d20+14[/dice]
[dice=Computers]1d20+23[/dice]
[dice=Engineering]1d20+20[/dice]
[dice=Mysticism]1d20+17[/dice]
[dice=Piloting]1d20+17[/dice]

Don't let the prestigious name fool you. Despite sharing it with the drow who run Apostae's biggest and most profitable shipyards, Belmarniss holds very few ties to House Rycast besides the name and her aptitude for piloting that she displayed at an early age, occasionally joining her mother as she'd transport scrap purchased from Wrecker's Field into the stations orbiting the planet for recycling and manufacturing. At that age, she dreamed of becoming a starship racer...or at least a cargo pilot, so she could fly beyond the orbital platform she called home and into the stars. Her parents, however, had other plans. Not content with their place in life, but feeling trapped in it, they were determined that Belmarniss would not suffer a life of mediocrity and middle-management. They pushed her into intensely competitive education, purchasing whatever tutoring they could afford and making sure she took any meager opportunity they could find for her to display exceptionalism to wealthier drow. In the end, this seemed to pay off, as shortly after Belmarniss began preparing to pursue higher education, her parents were approached by a representative of the Eclipse Academy, down on Apostae below. They promised that, if Belmarniss was truly as exceptional as her parents believed she would, the Academy would take her raw talent and truly shape her into one of the best spellcasters in the universe. They agreed, and Belmarniss began her training.

What the recruiter hadn't told Belmarniss, or her parents, was that Eclipse Academy's training regimen was incredibly brutal, even by Apostaen standards. Belmarniss' instructors were not gentle, and she was forced to compete with dozens of other students who couldn't even find camaraderie in the shared suffering their teachers inflicted. As time passed, Belmarniss watched as classmates periodically disappeared, whether through dropping out or even dying. Even when she expressed these concerns to her parents, they didn't seem to care, because Belmarniss was surviving, and that clearly meant she was better than those other washouts, to keep going, even if it hurt, and everything would all be worth it. Reluctantly, Belmarniss agreed, and as time passed, she began to see breakthroughs. She applied and refined her experience with starships and other technological devices, as well as her innate drow magic. By learning the science of the stars, and combining it with mystical and spiritual understandings of them, she began to see the barriers between both notions fall away, achieving a deeper understanding of the stars and feeling a stronger connection to them, and especially the Pact World's own star, Mataras, than ever before. Soon, she was ready to graduate, though at this point she was near ready to break.

The test was supposed to be simple. Joining another graduating student, take a small scouting vessel into Apostae's depths, use their powers to survive the dangers there, and return with a piece of ancient technology for study. Belmarniss sat at the controls, as the better pilot of the two, and adeptly navigated the perilous security systems and strange monsters who hide in Apostae's deepest crevices and caves, while her partner planned out the course and identified and categorized the things they found, to see if anything among it was truly new and valuable. Eventually they had to exit their vessel and explore on foot, where their powers and training were put to the test. Between the two of them, they were able to venture deeper than any of their previous classmates, and found exactly what they were looking for: an ancient artifact of Apostae's creators small enough that it could be brought back to the surface to be studied, and hopefully, reverse-engineered and reproduced for profit. As they brought it back to their vessel and began to retrace their way back to the surface, all Belmarniss could feel was relief that this nightmarish test, and the three nightmarish years of education she endured were finally coming to an end.

But it was not to be. As they approached the Academy's landing pad, Belmarniss' partner pulled a gun on her, announcing her intention to kill Belmarniss and claim credit for finding the artifact alone. When Belmarniss tried to reason with her, pointing out they were both graduating regardless of who presented the find, that they'd made such a great team and had gone through the same struggles together, but her partner refused, stating it wasn't just about graduating: the artifact could be used to curry favor with their instructors and their houses, guaranteeing wealth and influence, and she was not about to share that with a potential rival. After all, it was a simple matter of telling the instructors her death had ocurred during the test and she'd brought it back for Belmarniss' family. No one would look closely enough at her corpse to see it was a gun that did the killing, and anyone important enough who might, would not care. That was how the Academy worked, how the galaxy worked, how all great people worked. As both of them had mostly spent their spells fighting through the caves, Belmarniss turned away from the ship's controls and lunged to seize the gun. The two began to struggle in the cockpit, which caused the ship to swerve and spin, before beginning a nosedive that ended in a crash. Both Belmarniss and her fellow student were badly injured, and Belmarniss noticed a crack in her helmet that was letting air escape into space. In a panic, she called her partner for help, who only got up and retrieved the artifact's container. After checking to see it was undamaged, she turned and began limping towards the Academy in the distance, but not before turning back to taunt Belmarniss. Crushed in body and spirit, Belmarniss lay on her back amid the wreckage. Even if she could get up and pursue, she'd run out of oxygen before making it to the Academy. So she looked up at the stars. She was scared, and didn't want to die, but something about seeing the stars comforted her. She vaguely remembered a science lesson from decades ago where she'd learned all organic matter originated from the stars, and her body breaking down into that starstuff after she died didn't seem so bad, even if she didn't get to fly among them like she'd dreamed as a child. But it was not to be.

Much to Belmarniss' surprise, she woke up. She was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a monitor, and alive, with her parents and a strange half-orc woman breathing a sigh of relief. The dwarf introduced herself as Mazon, a member of the Knights of Golarion. Mazon explained that she had been visiting Apostae on a mission for the Knights that had happened to lead her to the area near the Eclipse Academy, where she'd witnessed the crash and leaped to aid any survivors she could find. When Belmarniss asked about her traitorous partner, Mazon said she'd seen them walking away, but Belmarniss' critical condition required her attention first, which is what she'd gotten Belmarniss out of the wreckage and made stop-gap repairs to her suit to keep her alive long enough to get her to safety. Belmarniss was overwhelmed and hugged Mazon despite her injuries as she cried. Shortly afterwards, an instructor from the Academy entered the room with her partner from the test, asking her parents and Mazon to leave. When they obliged, the instructor told her that she'd been admitted to the hospital around the same time her partner returned to the Academy, and had told them that the crash had been a terrible accident. Given the way her partner was trying badly to conceal her contempt, Belmarniss suspected this was her way of hedging her bets. She'd failed to die like her partner had wanted, so instead of lying Belmarniss had attempted to kill her, the crash was attributed to chance instead of treachery. As it stood, both of them would still graduate. Then the official produced a document, asking her to sign. It turned out to be a non-disclosure agreement, agreeing to the story that had just been told and absolving the Academy and all parties involved of blame. Belmarniss was shocked. After all she'd been put through, everyone was expecting her to move on as if nothing happened! She protested, but was informed that her graduation was on the line here. If she decided to go public, there were legal teams prepared to quash any attempt she'd make, her parents could lose their own jobs, and all her suffering would be in vain, as she'd no longer graduate. Faced with this prospect, she sadly signed the agreement, which was followed by similar signatures from Belmarniss' parents and from Mazon, just to be safe. What made Belmarniss even MORE upset was that when she explained the situation to her parents when they returned, they dismissed it and hadn't even questioned signing the NDA. She'd survived, she'd graduated from the Eclipse Academy and gained all the prestige that came with that, and she'd proven herself to the galaxy, validating them. Belmarniss was furious at their callousness and demanded her parents get out of her hospital room.

She bitterly asked if Mazon was going to turn on her like all the others had, and was surprised when the dwarf shook her head and said she'd be a poor Knight if she left someone clearly in need of justice behind. She knew they could do nothing about the NDA, but she suggested Belmarniss see it as more of an opportunity than a burden. A chance to start anew. Mazon explained that her order, the Knights of Golarion, liked to recruit from all of the lost planet's wayward children. This mostly meant humans, but other species claimed Golarion as their homeworld too, including Apostae's orcs and half-orcs...and drow like Belmarniss. Belmarniss' anger at what had just happened showed, in Mazon's mind, a strong sense of justice that even Apostae's capitalistic hellscape hadn't ground down. She'd proven her skill and stamina surviving, and these things could be combined to make Belmarniss into a great Knight of Golarion. She'd be among people who shared her passion, people she could trust, and she could see the stars. Belmarniss smiled a bit, and agreed. Once she was discharged from the hospital, she attended the graduation ceremony, settled accounts with her parents and joined Mazon on the next vessel to Absalom Station, leaving her homeworld of Apostae and all the pain she'd struggled with behind.

While the training as Mazon's squire was grueling, it lacked the callous intensity of Belmarniss' training at Eclipse Academy, and Belmarniss was surprised by Mazon's warmth and understanding, as well as that of her fellow recruits. She became much happier, though she still struggled with residual issues that the trauma of her Academy days and the "accident" lingered. Her new comrades helped her, instead of competed with her, and Belmarniss felt that this had become the family that she'd never known, leading her to redouble her efforts to excel. That led her to bulk up much more than most drow ever do, something she quickly found herself enjoying, as a physical display of the new strength she'd found. She also kept practicing her piloting skills, becoming quickly comfortable at the helm of a Brightsword and larger vessels. She soon converted to Iomedae's faith, swearing she'd devote her life to using the star-infused powers she'd suffered so much to master to make the galaxy a better place, and ensure others didn't suffer the same way. Seven years later, she was knighted, becoming a Star-Knight herself. Mazon, now an equal, suggested Belmarniss pursue errantry duty for a time, rather than dash straight out on a crusade with other Knights. It was something most new knights did, getting some more experience under their belts and finding their own confidence. Belmarniss decided it was a good idea, and shortly afterwards was contacted by her parents, who offered her a gig transporting some cargo from Apostae to a House Zeizerer branch in the Burning Archipelago as part of a deal they were making with House Rycast. She grudgingly accepted, figuring it'd at least get her to a place she could begin her knightly career in earnest. Don't let the prestigious name fool you. Star-Knight Belmarniss Rycast shares very little in common with House Rycast anymore.

Ht: 6'3"
Wt: 228 lbs
Age: 110
Hair: Shoulder-length, Shaved on the sides, Silver-platinum
Eyes: White
Skin: Indigo
Belmarniss is a tall woman whose build is much more like a brutaris player's than the lithe average among drow, thanks to the intensive strength training she undertook after joining the Knights of Golarion. She has a stern, imperious look to her face marred by scars from the crash that nearly killed her, which make her look even more intimidating. She wears her hair in a common drow style, shaving the sides of her head, but not spiking the hair in the middle like many of her peers do, letting it fall back or to one side. She favors white-colored armor emblazoned with Iomedae's sunburst sword and the Knights of Golarion's winged sword displayed prominently. She favors close-fitting helmets with blank faceplates only broken by the eye-holes, thinking they make her look cool and mysterious.