Zy-Dur and Brightshadow, Epic Aether Knight and Their Legendary Apparatus

Continuing from yesterday, here's a potential "epic knight" writeup for our no-longer-young qy knight and their much-upgraded 'Ratus. 

Zy-Dur and Brightshadow (Epic Form - 200 AP)

Visuals: Zy-Dur is a mature qy organic, well-seasoned and in teh prime of life.  When outside of a tether pod it favors loose-fitting hooded white robes marked with simple geometric patterns in shades of blue.  Like many of its kin, Zy-Dur is something of a arcanotechnophile and is usually festooned with gadgetry tucked away in concealed pockets or disguised as rings and other ornaments.  In personal combat the veteran knight relies on elegant fighting knives balanced for throwing and aether-bound to return to the hand on command, but occasionally carries a bulky personal cannon for long-range work.

Zy-Dur's 'Ratus Brightshadow is a gleaming mirror-bright figure of polished chrome and metallic cyan blue.  The graceful war-machine has been entrusted to Zy-Dur by the Qy Court and the youthful qy takes pride in the Dragoon frame's pristine condition and the numerous augmentations that have been added over their service time.  They spend a great deal of time in the maintenance bays after any battle, ensuring any damage is fully repaired.  Brightshadow is armed with a slender rapier-like sword, a spiked buckler shield, a heavyweight longarm caster and a smaller modular multi-barrel caster designed to break down into a swarm of independent weapon platforms on command.

 

Knight: Zy-Dur     Kin: Qy     Frame: Dragoon     Moniker: Brightshadow

Stone	Flux	Aether	Hearth
15	18	11	11
Energy	Armor Die	Damage Die	Nexus Die
24	D8 +1	D8	D10

Aspect Improvements:

• +2 Stone
• +4 Flux
• +1 Aether
• +2 Hearth

Augments: 

• Adjunct Limbs (Extra Armament) - You have four weapon slots instead of two, and gain either two weapons or a weapon and a shield to fill the extras.  In addition, you can benefit from two shields instead of one.
• Aegis Aetherium (Aetheric Shield) - When you take damage, you can choose to roll you Nexus Die to reduce the damage by the result; you can choose to do this before or after rolling your Armor Die.
• Flame Culverin (Flaming Weapon) - As an Activation, coat a weapon (one of yours or an engaged knight's) in flame.  Roll your Nexus Die.  That weapon deals 1d4 extra damage.  If that d4 rolls max, it becomes ongoing damage on the target and then dissipates.  This effect lasts until it dissipates this way or you use this ability again.
• Koradium Heart (Machine Soul) - When you roll despair on a test, you may choose to reroll that test but must take the second result.
• Koradium Heart (Upgraded Pod) - Permanently increase you maximum Nexus Die to a d10.

Bonding:

• +14 Energy

Boons:

• Blitz Phase - At the beginning of your turn you may choose to test Flux.  If you succeed you can take a free Maneuver during your turn (not counting toward duplicate actions).  If you fail take 1d6 damage and become shaken.
• Chasm Strike - As an Interaction, test Stone.  If you succeed, your current span gains the crumbling peril.  Roll your Nexus Die.
• Dash Strike - If you end your movement engaged with a foe, you can test Flux.  If you succeed, deal 1d6 damage to an engaged foe and stagger them.
• Meteor Strike - After moving, you may test Stone.  If you succeed, deal 2 damage to each engaged foe and push them into an adjacent span.  Roll your Nexus die.  
• Summon Fissure - As an Interaction, create a temporary Aethereal fissure at your location.  Roll your Nexus die.  At any point, you and any engaged knights can travel back to the location of the fissure.  The fissure fades away after you teleport this way or after you use this boon again.

Frame Abilities:

• Aetherwind Form - As a Maneuver, shift into Aetherwind form.  You become aloft.  In addition, while aloft you have favor on tests made to avoid attacks and may move an additional span while shifting, but also reduce your damage by -2.  End this form and the aloft condition as a Maneuver. 
• Relentless Charge - If you take a Maneuver and Strike in the same turn, deal +2 damage.

Kin Ability: 

• Bend Aether - As an Interaction, roll your Nexus Die and choose one of the following effects:  Grant another knight favor on their next Aether or Hearth test, or mark a foe.

Nexus Surge: 

• Fissure Phase - You and each engaged or adjacent knight may phase.  If you do, until the end of your next turn you take no damage or conditions from foes, and inflict no damage or conditions in foes in return.

Weapons:  

• Blade - Deal critical damage on rolls of 1 or 2.
• Buckler - +1 to Armor Die rolls.
• Bashing - After a successful Strike, deal 1d4 damage to an engaged foe.
• Caster - If you destroy a foe, deal any excess damage to a foe engaged with it.
• Dismantle - As an Activation, become d6 Legion Die; return to weapon and equip as an Activation.
• Caster - If you destroy a foe, deal any excess damage to a foe engaged with it.
• Heavy - +1 slot; deals +2 damage.
• Sniper - No hindrance to attack distant foes.

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Design Notes:

Looking at our 200 AP budget, this character split things up as follows:

Aspect Improvements - 90 (which feels like a lot, and maxes out Flux)

Augments - 44 (fairly inefficient, since most of the augment pairs only took one of the two options)

Bonding - 14 (spent over 7 respites, and would be only +7 Energy without Ringbounder Court)

Boons - 20 (thanks to Ringbounder Court discount)

Weapons - 32

That took at least 21 respites worth of time, plus 7 bonus actions while bonding.

Compared to the brand-new version of Zy-Dur, this one has added a lot of action efficiency, durability, and damage output, although it takes some setup to maximize - generating a Legion Die, setting a weapon (most likely the main caster) ablaze with Flaming Weapon, and of course going aloft and perhaps deploying a fissure somewhere for a future teleport.  Tactically, you still want to stay in the air and snipe since you're much safer there and your melee capability still isn't stellar.  Watch out for effects that can root you and foes that can make ranged attacks with favor or hit your weaker Aether/Hearth aspects from a distance.  Your Armor Die and shielding are solid but not amazing, and a lot of survivability comes from having favor on defense tests while aloft - and with an 18 Flux, no less.

Going forward, AP are likely to get funneled into weapons and qualities that improve melee and durability, like forging a second buckler and giving both of them bashing and hovering.  There are quite a few attractive boons as well, including the entire "Flux-" trio and various utility tricks.  Your on-foot performance is wretched as well and could use some help, and getting some companions wouldn't hurt.  Really not much in the way of augments you'd want (Ironclad might be worth it), but there's still room for even better aspects and more energy never hurts.

One thing that's becoming clear as I do more epic knights is that the Extra Armaments augment becomes almost mandatory at some point just so you can equip more weapons/shields to apply qualities to.  Hovering is fine on shields if you don't need two other qualities in them, but not so good on weapons so it's hard to free up more than two slots.  There's real limits on how far you can push a 'Ratus when it's only got two slots to work with, and by 200 AP you're starting to feel it.   

Zy-Dur and Brightshadow, An Aspirant Knight and Their Apparatus

 Zy-Dur and Brightshadow, Aspirant Knight and Their Apparatus

Zy-Dur is young but gifted qy, trained as an aspirant knight avowed to the cause of Qy Court itself.  The expectation had been for them to join a squadron of Court Dragoons on attaining knighthood, but at the last minute they were instructed to join their current mixed Nexus as an emissary instead.  Although obedient to the Court, Zy-Dur has also sworn the traditional vows of the Aether Knight and regards them as inviolable.  To date no complications have arisen due to these dual loyalties, but the time may come when the young knight must make some difficult decisions.

Like many qy, Zy-Dur comes across as cool and calculating on first meeting them.  This isn't wholly an inaccurate description, but anyone who knows the young knight for long will realize that there's one subject that they aren't calm about at all.  Zy-Dur loathes the oghdra for what the creatures have done to all qy, and to Eskhara Herself.  They'll take any opportunity to battle oghdra and will always push their Nexus to accept quests aimed at both oghdra remnants and the mad cultists of the Chitin Conclave.  It's one of the few things the otherwise restrained qy is emotional about, although they're usually ashamed at their "irrational behavior" after the fact, no matter how heroic it may have been at the time.

Visuals: Zy-Dur is a slender young qy organic, barely old enough for their medial limbs to have fully formed.  When outside of a tether pod it favors loose-fitting hooded white robes marked with simple geometric patterns in shades of blue.  Like many of its kin, Zy-Dur is something of a arcanotechnophile and is usually festooned with gadgetry tucked away in concealed pockets or disguised as rings and other ornaments.  In personal combat the young knight relies on elegant fighting knives balanced for throwing and aether-bound to return to the hand on command, but occasionally carries a bulky personal cannon for long-range work.

Zy-Dur's 'Ratus Brightshadow is a gleaming mirror-bright figure of polished chrome and metallic cyan blue.  The graceful war-machine has been entrusted to Zy-Dur by the Qy Court and the youthful qy takes pride in the Dragoon frame's pristine condition.  They spend a great deal of time in the maintenance bays after any battle, ensuring any damage is fully repaired.  Brightshadow is armed with a slender rapier-like sword and a potent longarm caster.

 

Knight: Zy-Dur     Kin: Qy     Frame: Dragoon     Moniker: Brightshadow

Stone	Flux	Aether	Hearth
13	14	10	9
Energy	Armor Die	Damage Die	Nexus Die
10	D8	D8	D8

Augments: 

• Koradium Heart (Machine Soul) - When you roll despair on a test, you may choose to reroll that test but must take the second result.

Boons:

• Summon Fissure - As an Interaction, create a temporary Aethereal fissure at your location.  Roll your Nexus die.  At any point, you and any engaged knights can travel back to the location of the fissure.  The fissure fades away after you teleport this way or after you use this boon again.

Frame Abilities:

• Aetherwind Form - As a Maneuver, shift into Aetherwind form.  You become aloft.  In addition, while aloft you have favor on tests made to avoid attacks and may move an additional span while shifting, but also reduce your damage by -2.  End this form and the aloft condition as a Maneuver. 
• Relentless Charge - If you take a Maneuver and Strike in the same turn, deal +2 damage.

Kin Ability: 

• Bend Aether - As an Interaction, roll your Nexus Die and choose one of the following effects:  Grant another knight favor on their next Aether or Hearth test, or mark a foe.

Nexus Surge: 

• Fissure Phase - You and each engaged or adjacent knight may phase.  If you do, until the end of your next turn you take no damage or conditions from foes, and inflict no damage or conditions in foes in return.

Weapons:  

• Blade - Deal critical damage on rolls of 1 or 2.
• Caster - If you destroy a foe, deal any excess damage to a foe engaged with it.

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Design Notes:

This Dragoon build will be focusing on mobility and utility early on, staying on the move as much as possible to get the big damage bonus from Relentless Charge.  Getting aloft and staying there makes this easier, and dealing with other flying foes should be a priority.  Having favor on defensive tests will help your durability a lot, although your armor's not bad either.  Machine Soul will largely prevent you from rolling despair, making it safer to operate in skyborne terrain and improving all your tests a bit.  Summon Fissure can be used to either to provide a getaway route if Zy-Dur gets overextended, or to ferry slower allies around by flying to a key location, opening a fissure, then sprinting back to meet the ground-bound knights and teleporting them en masse.

Ranged combat will be the order of the day while aloft, but there will be times when staying on the ground for the increase damage output may be a better choice.  Your kin ability will mostly be useful for marking foes (usually for other knights with higher damage output), although any round you do so you'll lose out on Relentless Charge.  Once the AP start coming in your options will expand some, but at this point it's mostly fly-and-shoot, fly-and-shoot with the occasional big repositioning trick.  No other frame and precious few foes can match a Dragoon for speed, so exploit that when you can.  

Haroo the Vast and Bladebreaker, An Epic Aether Knight and Legendary 'Ratus

Yesterday we looked at Harro the Vast and his 'Ratus Bladebreaker fresh out of character generation.  Today I'd like to show one possible version of him from later in an ongoing campaign.  Aether Nexus is (at time of writing) too new a game for anyone outside of the playtesters (and probably not them either) to know what a lengthy campaign plays out like for sure, so this will be entirely theoretical but hopefully of some interest as an example of how a knight will grow and change during play.  The focus here will necessarily be mechanical rather than narrative since I'm not trying to write a novel here.

So, the ground rules:

This writeup assumes roughly a year of steady weekly play, for a total of about 50 sessions.  Going by the book (and my own limited play experience) players should earn an average of 4-5 AP per session, which amounts to 225 AP over a year.  Some of that would get spent on the group's skyship, so let's assume we've got a flat 200 AP left to spend on Haroo personally.

We'll leave the skyship for later, but for simplicity I'm going to assume A) the Nexus doesn't have a Hauler (which modifies costs all over the place) and B) whatever ship they do have gets a Ringbounder Court bought early on (because it makes spending AP on Bonding twice as efficient, as well as making Boons a bit cheaper).  That particular component really should be a priority for everyone, and it's going to affordable for a 4-5 player group on your first respite.  It's that good, you really do want cheap Energy improvement ASAP.  

You'll probably get a respite less than once per session overall, but they're still fairly common so lets call it 30 individual chances to spend AP.  This mostly only matters for Bonding (because it's cheap and can be done with a single other respite action) so the max Energy increase would be 60 if you spent on it every time (and would only be 30 for the same AP cost without Ringbounder Court - see what I mean?).   

We're also going to assume that Haroo survives and isn't horribly mauled by battle scars from becoming fallen too many times.  That's potentially overoptimistic, but if anyone's going to make it through 50 sessions essentially intact it'll probably be the war-frog driving a giant ball of armor.  :)

Haroo the Vast and Bladebreaker (Epic Form - 200 AP)

Knight: Haroo     Kin: Buforog     Frame: Bastion     Moniker: Bladebreaker

Stone	Flux	Aether	Hearth
15	14	10	12
Energy	Armor Die	Damage Die	Nexus Die
42	D12 + 6	D6	D8

Aspect Improvements:

• Stone +1
• Flux +2
• Hearth +2

Augments: 

• Adjunct Limbs (Extra Armament) - You have four weapon slots instead of two, and gain either two weapons or a weapon and a shield to fill the extras.  In addition, you can benefit from two shields instead of one.
• Adjunct Limbs (Grappler) - As a Strike, test Stone.  If successful, you and an engaged foe become rooted until the end of your next turn, and you gain favor on all tests made against them.
• Bristle Plate (Ironclad) - When you roll 1 on an Armor Die, you may choose to reroll it.
• Bristle Plate (Razorshell) - When you take damage from an engaged foe, you can choose to deal damage to that foe with your Armor Die rather than reduce damage.
• Koradium Heart (Machine Soul) - When you roll despair on a test, you may choose to reroll that test but must take the second result.
• Koradium Heart (Upgraded Pod) - Permanently increase you maximum Nexus Die to a d8.
• Mycodrium Coating (Fungal Regeneration) - At the end of your turn, if you took damage since your last turn, you can roll your Nexus Die to upgrade your Armor Die (maximum d12).
• Mycodrium Coating (Funnel Life) - As an Activation, roll your Armor Die and regain that much Energy. 

Bonding:

• +26 Energy

Boons:

• Companion: Ember-Hound - You are accompanied by a lupine creature engulfed in flames.  Your ember-hound increases your maximum Energy by 4.  In addition, you gain a +2 to damage rolls while on-foot.
• Dash Strike - If you end your movement engaged with a foe, you can test Flux.  If you succeed, deal 1d6 damage to an engaged foe and stagger them.
• Firesinger - As an Interaction, you can end ongoing damage on an engaged knight.  In addition, as an Interaction, you can test Hearth; on a success, end the burning peril in a span.
• Vinecaller - As an Interaction, test Stone.  On a success, an engaged or adjacent foe becomes rooted.
• Windwhisperer - As an Interaction, you can test Flux.  On success, choose an engaged or adjacent foe or knight and move them to a span adjacent to them.

Frame Abilities:

• Bulwark - As an Activation, become fortified.  This effect lasts until you take a Maneuver or roll your Nexus Die.  In addition, while fortified, you can use an Interaction to make an engaged knight fortified. 
• Guardian - When an engaged knight would take damage, you can choose to roll your Armor Die to absorb damage for them.

Kin Ability: 

• Unkillable - If you would take damage, you can roll your Nexus die and reduce the damage by the result.

Nexus Surge: 

• Combined Assault - Choose an engaged knight.  You each immediately make a free attack with favor on the roll; on a success you each automatically deal max damage.

Weapons:  

• Axe - After rolling one damage, reroll the Damage Die and add it.
• Dismantle - As an Activation, become d6 Legion Die; return to weapon and equip as an Activation.
• Blade - Deal critical damage on rolls of 1 or 2.
• Sweep - As a Strike, test Stone.  On success, deal 2 damage to each engaged foe.
• Whip - After dealing damage, test Flux to impose shaken on foe.
• Cannon - On hit, you may deal max damage, but downgrade Nexus Die after.
• Sniper - No hindrance to attack distant foes
• Two Tower Shields - Each adds +3 to Armor Die rolls, tests made to retreat are hindered.

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Design Notes:

Lot more on that character sheet now than before, but still pretty manageable if you'd been growing into it naturally over the course of a year's weekly play.  Out of the arbitrary 200 AP the spending was split up like this:

Aspect Improvements - 50

Augments - 68

Bonding - 26 (spent over 13 respites, and would be only +13 without Ringbounder Court)

Boons - 20 (thanks to Ringbounder Court discount)

Weapons - 36 (forged a new blade, added four qualities)

That used at least 21 respites worth of time, plus 13 bonus actions while bonding.  Whether it would actually work in practice I'm not 100% sure, depends on how the respites are spaced out relative to AP influx.  In practice you might be forced into more lower cost boons or forging spare weapons over time (which can be helpful if you have bad luck with critical hits breaking them) but without more table time I'm not positive.  Maybe I'll get back to this next year about that.

It's possible you'd want better aspects by this point, but they are a very heavy investment whose impact is pretty limited unless you're using them a frequently (which mostly means Stone and Flux for combat rolls, but Haroo does have a Hearth-based boon so I bumped that one a couple of points since it was his weakest aspect in the starting array, and also because it's the defense stat for some nasty exotic attacks and the burning peril.  Ongoing damage is a strain on your Armor Die that you don't need, and your Firesinger boon clears it off allies, not yourself - as well as potentially putting out that peril entirely.

His augments are essentially done at this point, and feed into one another to let him selectively choose to take damage from engaged foes to deal large amounts of damage back with Razorshell while defending with Unkillable if necessary.  Most of his damage output comes from that kind of counterpunching trick, and his offense is geared more toward messing with enemy efficiency than dealing raw damage.

Haroo's boons were chosen so they don't stress his Nexus die (which you'll want for Unkillable when counterpunching), and mostly provide utility tricks.  Don't underestimate the value of Dash Strike though - it's practically free damage and stagger on a foe, and your defenses and Energy let you practically ignore Opportune attacks even if you can't actually Retreat worth a darn.  You might even want to provoke those free swings to get even more damage out of Razorshell in response, since trading 1d6 or 1d8 damage from a foe (possibly blocked by Unkillable) to automatically deal 1d12+6 or more back is a win for the Nexus.  Intelligent foes might just skip attacking and get out of your way...

Weapons are the area where Haroo probably has the most growth potential, since maxing out your quality options is very expensive when you've got four weapons and a backup to work with.  Going forward he'd likely add Hovering to his shields and use the freed slots to add Heavy to his cannon, and to his blade-whip with the skyship's quartermaster's Signature Steel trick that lets one weapon have three qualities.  It's worth noting that the trick with adding Dismantle to a spare weapon that you'll never use normally is a dandy way to spend 12 AP for almost any 'Ratus, although an Ettercap (which generates d4 Legion Dice like mad already) might not bother.  You could even theoretically splurge and get a spare or two if you have the AP to spare, but swapping in fresh ones as the old d6 Legion Dice burn out would be fiddly and action intensive.          

So, after a theoretical year of steady play Haroo and Bladebreaker are much more imposing, but they've still got plenty of room to grow.  Aside from addomg weapon qualities, Haroo is pretty sad at operating on-foot, which calls for a greater investment in boons (certainly Titanslayer) and possibly finding another 20 AP for the Aetherweave Tether augments.  He could also use more Nexus-helper boons like Memento Mori, and RP boons like Cipher or Spirit Tome, and raising his aspects further wouldn't hurt any, particularly that shabby Aether score to make some boons more useful.  He's also much more effective against melee foes than dedicated shooters, although Bastion frames have such easy access to fortified that weathering even the most ridiculous firestorm isn't hard. He just won't be hitting back as hard as he'd like, even with Legion Dice and maybe some help from a teammate with a Flame Culverin.    

It's nice to know that even after 50 sessions the game still has plenty of room for growth, although I suspect the GM is going to need to do some nastier custom foes to challenge epic knights - or use a whole lot of Legion Dice.  Or both.  By comparison, Mecha Hack (much as I like it) hits level 10 pretty fast unless you get a TPK, and once you're there it's kind of time to move on, either with a new group or a new game.  Aether Nexus has far more customization options and is free from level based caps, but pays for it with some added complexity.

Haroo the Vast and Bladebreaker, A Young Aether Knight and His Apparatus

Haroo the Vast and Bladebreaker

The buforog knight Haroo the Vast came to knighthood following the old traditions, having been esquired to senior knight Orith Red-Fisted in the service of the Korward House Manin throughout his training.  While Haroo learned his lessons well, he found his duties increasingly hard to stomach as time went by.  House Manin's leadership had changed with the passing of time, with the current generation becoming cruel and domineering toward those they ruled over.  Orith's Nexus supported this tyranny in exchange for wealth and lives of privilege, even secretly using their 'Ratuses to massacre the leaders of a worker protest movement under the pretense of dealing with "dangerous bandits" in the forested hills.  Haroo was there that day among the squires on foot, although he took no part in the killings and was sworn to secrecy by his knight Orith in the aftermath.

On the day of his knighting, Haroo broke with his corrupted patrons, stating he had received a vision from Eskhara herself that commanded him to a period of errantry abroad until his true destiny revealed itself.  While there were certainly those who doubted the claim, Orith was not yet so lost to evil that he dared deny such a calling, and Haroo and his bonded 'Ratus were grudgingly released to seek their fate - albeit not without a reminder that Haroo's existing oaths were still binding.  The bloodbath Orith Red-Fisted had led would be kept quiet lest Haroo become an oath-breaker himself.

House Manin lacks such knightly scruples, and still regards Haroo's Bastion Bladebreaker as their rightful property.  This has led to encounters with bounty hunters seeking to reclaim the mighty machine, tensions with other Korward Houses, and complications with other authorities.  Haroo has kept on the move to keep ahead of his troubles, and it was during those wanderings that he met and joined his current Nexus.

Visuals: Haroo the Vast is a batrachian buforog of impressive size, with a mottled green hide that's usually swathed in loose-fitting, brightly-patterned clothing that's tailored to be easily shed if the wearer needs to go swimming.  His wardrobe is as voluminous as he is, all of it in brilliant rainbow colors.  In battle, he bears a sturdy square-headed mace backed up with a small handcaster.  He usually forgoes armor in favor of shielding spellweaves; as Haroo likes to say, crafting a suit of plate to cover his gargantuan form would require enough ore to build a whole other 'Ratus for the crew, so better that he rely on his magics instead.

Haroo is accompanied nearly everywhere by an ember-hound pup he befriended during his travels, which he claims to need for his own comfort as he's prone to catching chills.  The creature was the runt of its litter and looks even smaller relative to its enormous buforog owner, but it's still a dangerous opponent capable of dealing with most armed kin in a pinch; even more so when Haroo "lets it off its leash" and relaxes the magics keeping its flames from charring everything it comes in contact with.  Its hypothetical name is Sparks, but it really doesn't answer to it and the best way to get its attention is to offer it a chip of embershale as a snack. 

His 'Ratus Bladebreaker is much grimmer sight than its flamboyant master, being a hulking mass of blackened metal and dull yellow ceramics with deep red contrasts.  The thing has had such an array of adjunct limbs and weaponry added that it's barely recognizable as a Bastion frame.  It sports not one but two slab-like rectangular tower shields controlled by its massive primary arms, which partially conceal a jagged hatchet and heat-scarred snub cannon held by a set of smaller secondary appendages.    

 

Knight: Haroo     Kin: Buforog     Frame: Bastion     Moniker: Bladebreaker

Stone	Flux	Aether	Hearth
14	12	10	10
Energy	Armor Die	Damage Die	Nexus Die
16	D12 + 6	D6	D6

Augments: 

• Adjunct Limbs (Extra Armament) - You have four weapon slots instead of two, and gain either two weapons or a weapon and a shield to fill the extras.  In addition, you can benefit from two shields instead of one.

Boons:

• Companion: Ember-Hound - You are accompanied by a lupine creature engulfed in flames.  Your ember-hound increases your maximum Energy by 4.  In addition, you gain a +2 to damage rolls while on-foot. 

Frame Abilities:

• Bulwark - As an Activation, become fortified.  This effect lasts until you take a Maneuver or roll your Nexus Die.  In addition, while fortified, you can use an Interaction to make an engaged knight fortified. 
• Guardian - When an engaged knight would take damage, you can choose to roll your Armor Die to absorb damage for them.

Kin Ability: 

• Unkillable - If you would take damage, you can roll your Nexus die and reduce the damage by the result.

Nexus Surge: 

• Combined Assault - Choose an engaged knight.  You each immediately make a free attack with favor on the roll; on a success you each automatically deal max damage.

Weapons:  

• Axe - After rolling one damage, reroll the Damage Die and add it.
• Cannon - On hit, you may deal max damage, but downgrade Nexus Die after.
• Two Tower Shields - Each adds +3 to Armor Die rolls, tests made to retreat are hindered.

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Design Notes:

So that's a starting Bastion build with dual tower shields backed up by the buforog kin ability, which is leaning hard into being as durable as can be right from word one.  The extra Energy from having an ember-hound is almost overkill, but it does help with Bolster actions if needed.  Bladebreaker's not terribly versatile and suffers from the same low damage output most Bastions do, but it also avoids having any really weak aspects and starts with both a ranged and melee weapon, saving some time and AP forging one later.

And as we'll see in the next post, this is actually the basis for a risky but very high-damage Bastion build once the AP start coming in.