Races of Suikoden

Suikoden has a variety of races: some, like dwarves and elves, are somewhat stereotypical; others, like Ducks and Beavers are not. While they are treated as fourth class citizens in Harmonia, the races in Suikoden add a much desired diversity that adds to any game. The list here serves as a brief introduction to them.

• Kobolds: A race of anthropomorphic dogs, standing generally around the same height as humans. The most populous and accepted of the other races.

• Elves: Elves are often distrustful towards humans, hidden in their forests. Usually hate Dwarves. Rare to see.

• Dwarves: Dwarves are, depending on where you find them, either top-notch miners (but not much else) or the best inventors in the world. The former are friendly, drink-friendly fellows; the later are xenophobic, tricky bastards.
  

• Wingers: Humanoids with large wings, Wingers are typically loners and not liked by many. Can fly though for short periods of time.
  

• Nay-Kobolds: A race of anthropomorphic cats, slightly shorter than Humans. Friendly traders from the Island Nations, though a bit annoying at time.

• Ducks: A race of anthropomorphic ducks about human sized, Ducks are friendly fellows who live in the lakes of the Grasslands.

• Lizardman: A race of anthropomorphic large lizards, Lizardmen are tough warriors, blacksmiths, and hunters. Living in caves in the Grasslands, they are hard to befriend but loyal.

• Beavers: A race of anthropomorphic beavers, only but two or three feet tall, Beavers live in the rivers of the south. Expert woodmakers. Beavers.

• Vampires: Cursed by the Blue Monn Rune, Vampires are cursed to live forever and want to desire the flesh of man. Often charming but vicious. Not to be trifled with.

• Beastmen: People who are stuck with a rune. Some runes make people permanently stuck as a Beastman, like a Werewolf. Others have full control of their rune. Others attach tiger heads on themselves. Suikoden can be strange. Evidence: See Beavers.
  

The Origin of Suikoden

In the beginning, there was "darkness."
Then finally, the "darkness" shed a "tear."
From that "tear," the brothers Sword and Shield were born.

Sword Bragged that he can cut anything. Shield replied that he could protect anything. then the brothers began a legendary battle for seven days and seven nights.

At the end, Sword cut Shield and Shield Smashed Sword.
Sword became the sky, Shield became the earth, and the sparks from the battle became the stars.

And the jewels that adorn Sword and Shield Became the True Runes--'
The runes that all other runes were born from.

This tale tells of how the world of Suikoden was created - and why True Runes are so powerful!

Session 2 Recap: Meandering with Miles

Session 2 (Wednesday 11/16/11)

Our first task to start off the session was leaving the mines, unsure what our shared possession of the Unity Rune might mean but looking forward to finding out. We fought a few groups of hellhounds and other beasts on our way up, and between battles Royce gave up the Illusion cape to Harold, who he thought might make better use of it. Finding the exit did not take long, and by the time we’d reached daylight we were all itching to be rid of the prison all together and get on with our lives. Weapons drawn and bursting with enthusiasm, we all tried to make a break for it but were foiled by a giant net over the dragon and a line of soldiers with weapons that instantly knocked the rest of us unconscious.

Upon awakening in the infirmary in Valas’ care, we found that each of us was now shacked hand and foot for our attempted escape. Nathan and Grant, who had eagerly accepted our suggestion for escaping, were thrown in with us as well. And Vasuki the dragon had been returned to her cage. We hadn’t had long to bemoan our fate before Commander Miles marched in and ordered us to pursue the prisoners who had escaped during the commotion with the monsters. He promised that if we found those runaways and dragged them back, he would remove our shackles. We pointed out quite reasonably that it would be quite impossible for a band of shackled, weaponless inmates to find and capture anyone, so Miles unchained us and let us take Vasuki but kept a lock on the dragon’s wings to keep us from flying off. He also decided to accompany us on our mission to make sure we didn’t get any funny ideas.

And so, for the first time, we found ourselves free (relatively speaking) to rejoin civilization and see what the Harmonian countryside had to offer. Our first stop was the slave camp itself, where we found very little in the way of supplies to purchase (how many sets of Slave Garb does one need, really?). I believe, however, that this was where we purchased our Carrot Seed.

Our next stop was the nearby town of Bellhurst, where we were able to sharpen some of our weapons up to level 3 and purchase some upgraded armor to help in the fights ahead. The only person of note who we met there was Gomez, a man searching for a castle where he might set up a fine storage area. All of the civilians in the streets had one main topic of conversation: the war with Camaro and its queen, Diana, which Harmonia was not faring so well in.

The only other town within reach was Runehurst, where we found the all-important Chicken, Clucky! We also happened to find a woman named Joyce running the local inn, and Harold seduced her most expertly. Somewhere in one of these towns we also acquired 10x Wine for trading, and the Squirrel Plans #2.

Finally, we set to actually tracking down these missing inmates. We had plenty of time during the trip to the mountains to ask Commander Miles about himself, and learned that he ended up heading this remote prison mine because he lost an important weapons shipment and fell into disgrace. He blames a priest-general named Marcus for setting him up, and Harold informs him that the enigmatic Marcus is indeed still at large.

To finish up the session, we began our trek up the mountain path in pursuit of the prisoners, broken up by random encounters and treasure hunting. The next time we meet, we will be endeavoring to find those prisoners at last, at which point we will have to decide how to make our escape while we can.

Investigation! Nathan Jones

Investigation one:

Name: Nathan Jones

Age 29

From: Lindenmill, Harmonia

War Position: Infantry

Bio: Nathan's a tough one to crack. He's been in the Orbel Prison mining camp since he was 11, more than half his life. It's why he knows the guards so well and was made foreman. Still, before that is a mystery. Just why was he in there, anyway?

Investigation two:

I'm still working on Nathan. I've talked to some of the guards though, and found out he has history there. Since he was imprisoned so young, they took pity on him, and raised him as a sort of mascot of the mines. He was even taught swordmenship by his captors! One guard said they owed it to him, or something. I've never heard of a prison camp training it's prisoners, but there's a first for everything, I guess.

Investigation three:

Gah, this case is killing me. I'm still without a clue to his background before he entered the mines. I did find this out though; apparently, he went from being the prison's mascot to an actual prisoner when he was 19, when he helped a woman escape the mines. Nathan didn't even try to escape, and reported the crime himself! The commander at the time couldn't overlook that, and revoked Nathan's privileges and had him sent to the mine proper. Still, being so well known by the guards, he quickly became foreman as you know. The woman's name? I think it was June.

Investigation four:

Pay dirt at last! Ok, listen to this: Apparently, Nathan is from a well to do first class family, see? His mother died in child birth, and his father died a hero's death fighting in Harmonia's army when Nathan was 11. The Harmonian army sent a representative to take the boy into their custody. They were planning to give him a free ride to Soledt Academy and treat him like the son of a war hero like he was. Nathan was even allowed to dine with the Order of God, the five head bishops who rule Harmonia. And get this? In the presence of everybody, from generals to reporters, Nathan spit on the Head Bishop's shoes, calling them murdered and thieves for stealing his father away from him. To make matters worse, he attacked one of them with a kitchen knife. That didn't fly well, as you could imagine. They couldn't kill the boy in front of the reporters, so they quietly made him disappear in the Mines. What a raw deal.

Hikusaak

Hikusaak was the hero who led a group of people in a rebellion against the Kingdom of Aronia 400 years ago in "The Hero War". Being the holder of the True Circle Rune, he has lived ever since as the Harmonian Head of State and High Priest. He has total power over Harmonia, but for the last few decades s/he has not been seen. Civil war broke out in Harmonia in the year 237 because of this, although in the end, the uprising was put down. In his absence the political machinations of Harmonia are handled by bishops and the aristocracy. Some suspect that he is no longer alive. Politics is handled by the Aristocrats after his disappearance.

Hikusaak remains a complete enigma. The above appearance is based on a Drunk Man's guess.

Bio: Sciath and Sun Crystal

Sciath comes from the village of Alma Kinian in the grasslands. In this heavily spiritual community that works with nature, Sciath was a black sheep for her fascination with the strange and unusual, wanting to know more of the outside world instead of her own village. In short, she was bored of the simple village life, and was looking for a change. That change came around the time of the Second Fire Bringer war (suikoden 3) when a traveling Trickster by the name of Belle came to Alma Kinean with her robot pal, Gadget Z.

Sciath was instantly fascinated by the "mechanical monster" and asked a ton of questions of Belle and Gadget, wanting to know all about it. The trio talked for hours, with Sciath eager for knowledge and Belle was happy to be seen as a "teacher" and not just the student everyone thought of her as. during their talk, Belle said something that suck with Sciath: "If you're so bored here, why don't you leave?"

So, that's exactly what Sciath did. She went off with Belle to learn more about tricksters and their way of life, roaming from place to place and learning all about their wonderful machines. The two tried to build Sciath her own machine, but it never game out just right. Eventually, they ran into Belle's mother, Meg. Always happy to tutor a new trickster, Meg sat down with the girls and the three of them built Sun Crystal, Sciath's own automaton pal. Belle and Meg decided to rest from their journeys a while, and have some family bonding time. Sciath, too eager to wait to start her own journey, said goodbye to her tutors, and began to wonder on her own. A true trickster at heart, she has no real destination or goal in mind, other than to see the world and learn all she can of it.

Bio: Royce and Vasuki

Royce comes from the Dragon's den in the Toran Republic. He bonded with his dragon, Vasuki, at an early age, and spent most of his childhood learning to care, raise, and fight with a dragon. It was a big job, as Vasuki is BIG; nearly twice the size of an ordinary dragon, Vasuki stands out as a powerhouse even among dragons. No one knows why Vasuk is so much bigger, whether it was simply a fluke at birth or some secret training Royce gave to the dragon, but the fact remains that this dragon kicks butt.

With such a powerful ally at his side, Royce was tested early on in his career as a dragon knight, and tested often. The pair came through every test with flying colors, with Vasuki being able to overpower any obstacle with brute force. The pair quickly gained a reputation, and began climbing the ranks of dragon knights at a speed not seen in decades. Now a 4th class dragon knight (9th class being an apprentice, and 2nd class being the rank of Dragon Captain with the Dragon Rune; 1st class is nearly always left empty; see the link below for details on dragon knight ranks) there seems to be little stopping Royce and Vasuki from climbing to the top of the knights, with rumors circulating Royce could become Vice Commander or even Captain one day. Only Royce knows of his true goals and ambitions, and it is not immediately clear what brought him to Harmonia in the first place.

Session 1 Recap: Monsters in the Mines

Recap: Session 1 (11/7/11)

As we launched into our inaugural session of Suikoden, we found all of our characters being hauled off to a Harmonian jail. Most of us had arrive there separately, for a variety of reasons. Daisy (Sarah) and Royce (Phil) were brought in together, Royce’s caged dragon Vasuki in tow. Little Sciath (Kerri) was accompanied by a strange talking contraption called Sun Crystal. Harold’s (Michael’s) only companion was his outrageous accent.

We arrived at the Orbel Mines as prisoners of Harmonia and were presented before an old man to “check in” for our stay. His name was Kuarjav Valas (Jon), and he was a prisoner himself who, as a healer and an old man, was more valuable in an administrative position than laboring in the mines. He possessed two runes on his hands, both water and earth.

The prisoners all gave their names. Daisy freely gave her last name as Saint-Anicet and was quite surprised when no one recognized it. She also revealed to Harold that she is the daughter of Viktor (Suikoden 1-2), which he advised that she keep to herself while in prison for her own safety. Kalas examined each new prisoner and found that most of them possessed at least one rune, some of which he did not recognize (one belonging to Royce, and both of Daisy’s). after meeting each prisoner, he declared them fit (except for Harold, who got half-duty) and sent them to the mines.

The prisoners had a long day of work, during which Daisy picked up Sciath’s slack when the young girl couldn’t keep up. During breakfast the following morning, word came that monsters had appeared in the mines and were killing inmates. Harold convinced the guards to give us back our weapons and send us down into the mines to handle the problem. We were also accompanied by Notable NPCs Nathan and Grant, two 3rd class citizens jailed for unknown crimes, who serve as sort of foremen, dealing with issues between the guards and prisoners. Also of note, though not currently with us, is Commander Miles, the easygoing commander of the prison who seems far too timid to run such an operation and made the decision to send us into the mines. (if this was a Suikoden game, all three of them have portraits).When the party descended into the mines, they found the corpses of other inmates, the occasional box of medicines and other items (Royce acquired a unique Illusion Cape), and roving bands of hellhounds and other beasts. We dispatched them all with minimal wounds until finally we reached the end of the tunnel.

Two strange things were waiting for us at the end of the mine. One was an alarming rip in the air itself, through which monsters were continuously emerging. The other was an enormous glowing rune on the wall, which none of us could identify. Daisy argued for just cutting it up and destroying it, but before she could draw her sword, Royce stepped forward and touched the rune.

We were immediately thrown into a fight with a three-headed monster called Geryon. It was a difficult battle that caused Daisy, at least, grievous bodily harm – but she’s quite accustomed to taking hits. When the fight was won, the rune split into pieces and a portion attached itself to the forehead of every person present. We received a vision of the rune’s past, how it had fled capture by Harmonia and was now seeking “friends”. We don’t yet know where this will lead us, but one thing is sure: our lives, and our fates, are now inextricably bound linked together.

The Unity Rune, True

Rune images: After the boss fight and before the rune attaches itself to you, it communicates with you and shows you several images. The images show men in Harmonian armor/garb looking for something in a forest, and you get an image of the unity Rune in that same forest. The unity rune moved itself (as True Runes can do) but the Harmonian army kept chasing after it. It fled again and again, but couldn't escape. It eventually came to the caves in the Orbel Mines where you found it, and the rune seems...afraid. It lets you know it wants to keep away from those "bad men", or Harmonia, and it needs friends to do that. It senses you will be its friends, and entrusts you with its power.

To note: All true runes are sentient and have a will of their own. This rune, so far, seems almost childlike in its desire for friends, and its fear of the Harmonian army.

The Unity Rune governs the powers of Friendship and Betrayal. Due to its nature of friendship, it's going to be 'friendly' and let you each tap into a different part of its powers. So Jon, who has water and flowing, might want it to be an offensive rune, where Mike and Kerri who have offense might want a healing rune. Sarah, who is going to be berserk 24/7, is going to want it to be a passive rune and give an ability and not magic. Maybe you want it to be a type of command rune, where it lets you do a ton of damage in battle as a melee attack. Whatever you want. The one thing is, it's going to be a little different for everyone, as friendship means something different to everyone.

When deciding on what your unity rune does for you, I'd look over the below possibilities, and/or the abilities of the runes in the book. Being a true rune, your rune will be better than a 'basic' rune, but a tad weaker than a 'whole' true rune (yours is split into nine parts, after all). so look over the ideas when you get a chance, run your ideas by me and I'll be happy to tailor your rune to you specifically.

Unity Rune Possibilities:

Offensive:

1. Backstab: [Unity Magic Grade × 5] + 1d12 damage. Target: One enemy. Teleport behind one enemy, and stab him in the back.

2. Get him! [Unity Magic Grade × 10] + 1d12 damage. Target: One enemy. Entire Party surrounds and beats up one enemy mercilessly.

3. Distortion [Unity Magic Grade × 10] + 1d12 damage. Target: All enemies. The unity runes ‘breaks’ a bond between worlds, and the energy distorts the enemy. Chance of enemy getting sucked in to the closing fissure. (Roll a 1d12; if a 1 or 2, enemy is killed).

4. Traitor’s Torment: [Unity Magic Grade × 15] + 1d12 damage. Target: One enemy. Ghosts of traitors past haunt the target, assaulting his/her mind.

Support:

1. Call of Heroes: Revives a fainted Ally with (Magic grade x 5) HP. Target: One Ally.

2. Preventive Medicine: When used, no ally can be hit by any status conditions for this battle. Target: All allies.

3. Call to Arms: All allies are guaranteed to hit this round, with (Magic grade) added to the melee damage rolls. NOTE: Regardless of initiative, this spell always goes first. Target: All allies.

4. Protection: Nullifies all attacks on party this round. Target: All allies.

Healing:

1. Power of friends: [Unity Magic Grade x 5] + 1d12 HP restored. Target: One ally

2. Strength of friends: [Unity Magic Grade x5] + 1d12 HP restored. Target: All allies

3. Wonder of Friends [Unity Magic Grade x 10] + 1d12 HP restored. Target: All allies

4. True Friendship: Heals all HP for all allies. Target: All allies

Sword of Unity:

1. United we stand: Adds 1 damage to your melee damage roll for every three friends (aka stars of destiny) you have. Target: Self.

2. Human Shield: Take the blow for any wounded ally. NOTE: This spell always goes first, regardless of initiative. Target: Self.

3. Final Shot: Target: One enemy/self. Put all of your HP and MP into one final, desperate attack. Always hits with the formula: (Remaining HP + Remaining MP + Weapon grade + any attack bonuses) x Your level. User then falls KO.

4. Self Sacrifice: Sacrifice half of your HP to fully restore the rest of the party. Heals all status, KO, and all HP (but yours). Target: all allies.

Welcome to the Suikoden blog! This blog will cover the Suikoden tabletop RPG run by Vicky, which started in November 2011. Check out our players, catch up on the recaps, and see how the next chapter of Suikoden unfolds!