The galaxy is threatened by a monstrous evil! The veil has been lifted, and the SCAOTH have been revealed.
The Scaoth, the dark masters behind the UniStar Conglomerate, are preparing to invade the galaxy. They prowl the edges of Unknown Space, their thousands of thralls and zealot warriors eager for an imminent, brutal attack on dozens of star systems. Disturbing intelligence points towards one ominous truth: the MISSING were taken as captives and thralls for a ravenous crusade.
But hope is not lost. With the New Republic already stretched thin, a cryptic ally known as the PRESAGER has warned the galaxy of the impending threat and put out a call to anyone willing to fight this terrifying evil. These unlikely heroes gather at an emergency war council, where they agree to set aside their differences to rescue their Missing and stand as one against this new common foe.
Assembled at the edge of known space on the planet Batuu, the council have made a plan; the Factions of the galaxy must strike in full force against the Scaoth before the Horde can begin their devastating invasion.
The allied armies travel into the Unknown Regions to the horde-world of RA’UN, where the fate of millions of beings will be decided by war….
The Battle of Ra’un
This is total war on a planetary scale.
The fate of the battle of Ra’un depends on every member of every Faction building together towards a shared goal: complete victory over the brutal Scaoth.
BATTLES
The Battle of Ra’un consists of several Battles both in orbit around the planet and on the planet’s surface. Battles range from commando missions on moons, to full on all-out vehicular assaults on open battlefields, to close-quarter skirmishes in the cities, to dramatic confrontations with deadly enemy warlords.
SCORE RATING
Each Battle has a Score Rating; a minimum score that builds of that Battle must cumulatively pass for a Battle to be victorious. There is no formal process for claiming a Battle. What preferences players have will have to be coordinated with other players so everyone knows who is building what. There is no limit for how many builds can be submitted for a single Battle, but wasted effort in one area might mean failure in another.
There is no benefit to coordinating only with players within your own faction, and indeed, its more likely that will lead to failure for all involved. Players are encouraged to coordinate outside of their own Faction. Some Battles may only need one builder, while some will need many.
There are three levels of Score Ratings for Battles. 10, 25, and 50.
Score Rating: 10
A rating that can reasonably be reached by a single builder.
Score Rating: 25
Will likely require cooperation between multiple builders.
Score Rating: 50
Immense battles that will likely require a minimum of four players to complete.
Remember: the best way to score more points is to ask for detailed feedback from your peers and Faction Leaders, and implement their advice to help the build be the best it can be. The rest is just teamwork and creativity!
SPACE Battles
In order to successfully face the armies of the Scaoth on the planet surface, the allied factions must engage the Scaoth swarns of starfighters, and warships in orbit around Ra’un.
Break the Blockade (Score Rating: 10)
A flotilla of Scaoth doomships orbits the planet, protecting the Hive Station and preventing the allied factions from landing troops. Break the dreadnaught blockade around the planet.
- Show the allied fleet of capital ships and frigates engaging in massive combat against the enemy fleet.
Hive Station Assault (Score Rating: 25)
The Hive Station is the Scaoth’s primary transit hub for moving their forces to and from the planet. The Hive Station is heavily defended both by Scaoth starfighters, and heavy cannons.
- Show your starfighter(s) in a dogfight against Scaoth starfighter(s). Your build must feature two starfighters.
Shadow Beacon Assault (Score Rating: 10)
The rough conditions of the Ra’un surface makes it near impossible to establish consistent long range communications. Instead the Scaoth has build a massive relay, hidden on the dark side of Ra’un’s second moon, The Shadow Beacon must be destroyed.
- Option 1: Show your starfighters or bombers trying to reach the Shadow Beacon, or fighting enemy starfighters, or anti-air cannons.
- Option 2: Show your agents in space suits planting charges, or disabling the shields of the beacon.
SURFACE Battles
The Scaoth legions are fortified in the Exuji region of Ra’un. The rough weather conditions and irregular terrain of the surface leaves a limited amount of assault options open.
ASSAULT ON TAROA PASS (SCORE RATING: 25)
In order to reach the Bassoet Basin, a path must be cleared for allied factions forces. The Taroa Pass is heavily defended by massive cannon towers, and bunker fortifications.
- Option 1: Show your speeders assaulting the Scaoth fortifications in a trench run trough the pass.
- Option 2: Show your ground forces assaulting the Scaoth cannon towers and bunkers throughout the pass.
THE BATTLE OF BASSOET (Score Rating: 50)
In order to reach the Great Fortress of Xhile, where the majority of the Scaoth warlords are located, the allied factions must engage the enemy horde on the vast basin of Bassoet. The flatland mesa are only disrupted by a few clusters of plateaus and rocky pillars.
- Option 1: Show the allied factions ground assault, with your ground forces, walkers, speeders, or vehicles charging across the open land into the hordes of the Scaoth, a head-to-head clash of armor and soldiers in open warfare.
- Option 2: Show your forces, that has broken through enemy lines, in close-quarter-combat on the cliffs below the fortress.
THE SIEGE OF THE GREAT FORTRESS OF XHILE (Score Rating: 25)
It is of uttermost importance to reach the Great Fortess of Xhile, in order to neutralize the Scaoth Grand General, Korathion, and the warlords and strategic leaders of the Scaoth horde.
- Option 1: Show your forces breaching the walls of the fortess, fighting in the narrow streets and walkways of the fortress.
- Option 2: Show your forces confronting and engaging the Grand General, and the remaining warlords inside the fortress.
The LIBERATION OF JOL LAXUS CITY (SCORE RATING: 25)
Pockets of the Scaoth Horde has withdrawn to the capital city, disregarding the locals, using them as living shields. The locals must be liberated from these tyrannical demons.
- Option 1: Show your forces in close-quarter combat in the narrow city streets of the capital Jol Laxus.
- Option 2: Show your forces helping the locals to rise up in rebellion against their invaders.
The EVACUATION OF VOS PILATI and vos Minari (SCORE RATING: 10)
The Scaoth Horde has withdrawn from the cities Vos Pilati, and Vos Minari. In their bloody wake, are two ruined cities, and hundreds of dead and wounded locals.
- Show your forces aid the locals in evacuation, and tending to the wounded, establishing field hospitals, equipping those willing to fight, etc.
FREE THE MONKS OF KWAI MORA (SCORE RATING: 25)
The Scaoth has enslaved the Monks of Kwai Mora, and turned their once magnificent monastery into an indulgence house for Scaoth warlords.
- Option 1: Show your forces eliminating the remaining warlords within the monastary.
- Option 2: Show your forces freeing the monks, and the slaves, held captive at the monastery.
INTERCEPT THE PRINCE’S COHORT (Score Rating: 10)
In order to secure their overlords, the Scaoth will most likely make a last stand at the Scaoth Temple. We must intercept the high ranking Scaoth agents before they reach the temple, and regroup.
- Show your vehicular forces intercepting the Scaoth convoys north of the capital Jol Laxus.
GRYSK TEMPLE ASSAULT (Score Rating: 50)
In a last effort to defend the escape of their Grysk Princes, the Scaoth horde is regrouping in the cliffs around the Grysk Temple Dreadnought. The enemy has the high ground. Past the cliffs, the Scaoth are preparing for a nightmarish last stand, and have set up fortifications inside the labyrinthine temple base.
- Option 1: Show your forces engaging charging the cliff fortifications, engaging in a vertical battle as they climb the steep cliff faces.
- Option 2: Show your forces fighting the last resistance of the Scaoth horde in the halls, hangars, and hallways of the temple base.
THE OVERLORD DUEL (Score Rating: 50)
The Allied Factions forces has reached the heart of the Grysk Temple Dreadnaught. A few Scaoth warlords and elite guards are frantically trying to get their ship off the ground to save their Grysk Master.
- Show your elite force engaging an epic duel against the Grysk Prince and his elite guard.
The Planet: RA’UN
Ra’un is a world in the Unknown Regions covered in foggy plateaus, bizarre flora, and strange rock formations. The blaze of its two suns against its pervasive mist turn the sky into a sheet of fiery orange whenever the rains cease. When the clouds roll in, the angry skies give their dominion over to a cold, surreal gray punctuated by bright flashes of color in its endemic plant life.
The native Ra’uni are pale-skinned humanoids who live in isolated villages and walled cities. Because of their demanding environments, it is culturally expected that each member of the species cover their faces at all times with a mask of some kind, and they wear hoods, scarves, and cloaks to protect against the elements. These are standards the Scaoth have abused by forcing the enthralled members of their community to go maskless – tantamount to social death per their traditions – to disturb and scare the rest. The Ra’uni number only in the thousands, and as a relatively low-technology society, never developed space travel. Both of these traits made them an easier target for the Scaoth, who brutalized any resistance on arrival. The Ra’uni have suffered under Scaoth occupation for fifty-five cycles, forced to work in their foundries until death, and act as servants for the honored Scaoth warriors. Their lives are meaningless to the Scaoth, but the spirit of the Ra’uni has quietly endured – a flare of defiance burns in them yet.
BUILDING RA’UN
Inspiration
Ra’un is inspired by Mount Roraima and similar table-top mountains, “Lost Worlds” of unique geology and ecology. It features labyrinths of rock, wide deserts, treacherous cliffs, sulfuric lakes, and ancient cities.
Ra’un Building Guide
The soil on Ra’un is grainy and sand-like thanks to consistent rain-fall.
Colors: Tan, Dark Tan, Nougats, Dark Orange, Browns
The rocks on Ra’un are carved away by rainfall and currents, with horizontal strata and strange, smooth shapes.
Colors: Dark Bluish Gray, Dark Gray, Black
The plant life on Ra’un is utterly unique, including many cactus-like plants, odd bulbs, and strange fungi.
Colors: Lime Green, Light Yellowish Green, Sand Green, Olive Green, Pinks/Magentas, Reds (If you’re interested, feel free to experiment with interesting plants and foliage!)
THE ENEMY: THE SCAOTH
A terror rises from the dark chaos of Unknown Space. Servants of an unseen power, the thousand howling swarms of the Scoath appear from nowhere, stop at nothing, and hear no plea. Strandcasts, warrior cultures, violent criminals, Imperial exiles, unwilling captives, all made thralls of a ravenous crusade.
The Scaoth are a festering swarm of feral marauders, violent worshippers, and zealous thralls. They have emerged from the Unknown Regions to trample across the galaxy in chaotic crusade, hungry for pain and despair, fearful only of missing a chance to kill. The Scourge roams and assimilates and destroys seemingly at random.
Thanks to their steadfast belief only in proving their own strength and superiority, purging the galaxy of weak life, and enslaving the strong, their fanaticism cannot be reasoned with. They assimilate the conquered into their system of slave warriors (“thralls”) who are forced to kill (take skulls) or be made to suffer themselves. All are subservient to the Masters, the Exalted Zhra’ad, the Heretic Princes, who will show favor only to the strongest of their horde.
Those who are not part of their twisted structure are targets for enslavement and destruction. Every world is ripe for razing, every city for burning. The ones left alive are only those deemed useful to the forever-war of the Horde. They are a black hole of frenzy, a teeming, violent mass of death.
BUILDING THE SCAOTH
Aesthetics of the Scaoth
The Scaoth are entirely new to the Star Wars Galaxy, so we get an exciting chance, as a community of artists, to work together to create new vehicles, war machines, minifigs, and fortresses. Bring your creativity into the process. The lore and guidelines are meant to help and inspire you, not constrict you, as you bring this menacing new enemy to life.
BUILDING INSPIRATION
You don’t need a lot of fancy parts to build the Scoath. Every builder should bring their own creativity to the table, and leave their own original mark on the faction. Here are some helpful guidelines:
Vibe
Though they might seem similar to the Nihil on the surface in their penchant for violence and Mad Max inspirations, the Scaoth are a brand apart. Whereas the Nihil enjoy a punk-rock individualism and an anarchic camaraderie, the Scaoth are twisted tools of their masters, and treated as such. They are thralls and zealots in service of cruel deities, forced into combat. They are desperate, hungry, and brutal. They free themselves from scarcity and brutality by bringing the same upon their enemies, and thereby proving their worth to their war leaders.
A useful benchmark is the villains of classic 70s-80s fantasy, sword-and-sorcery franchises like Willow, Conan the Barbarian, Masters of the Universe, even the Ewok movies. We also looked at Warhammer 40k for inspiration. Scaoth silhouettes are sharp, intense, and mean.
Color Palette
The Scaoth wear black, gunmetal, dark brown, and dark red. Many have one striking Red highlight: a mask, a helmet, a cape, etc.
Species
The army of Strandcasts that form their frontline have pale white skin. There are five main species enthralled to the Scaoth—human, Nagai (white skin, with black hair), Tof (green skin), and Maccabrees (hulking armored cephalopods). Thanks to the prison population the Scaoth enthralled and the captives they took from our galaxy, there are also various and sundry familiar Star Wars aliens among the horde.
Helmets
A key aspect of the Scaoth is their wearing of war helmets and masks, usually very tall or very wide, to appear larger and more frightening to their victims.
War Machines
Spider-legged tanks, ominous war-towers hovering over the flatlands, stilt-legged walkers scouring the wastes like predators, and skiffs with fused-on armor and spikes for impaling their enemies (namely, your faction). Go wild. Invent anything you can imagine that would frighten their enemies. The Scaoth have no rule against the use of droids or cybernetics. Scaoth war machines are mashed together from the resources of their thralls, so they are irregular and brutally practical. Pull from simple, intimidating silhouettes.
Starships
The Scaoth travel in their Doombringers – scavenged, grafted-together dreadnoughts as dark as the void. Each ship is like a hive holding scores of Locusts, smaller transports full of frenzied marauders eager to be unleashed on raid-worlds. You are free to imagine what these ships look like, and invent new ones too.
SCAOTH LORE
Forces of the Horde
The fighting force of the Scaoth is an amalgamation of thralls and zealots twisted into the service of their masters. The zealots are treated better than the thralls, honored and well-equipped for their loyalty. The thralls are a disposable horde meant only to be thrown against the enemy relying on the strength of their numbers alone. Which category a warrior falls into depends on their own choices and skill in combat. Any who prove themselves can climb the ladder.
Those entirely unwilling to fight are either made to do so at the threat of death, used as labor for building war machines, or turned into decraniated—cyborgs with no will of their own.
Starships
The Scaoth travel in their Doombringers – scavenged, grafted-together dreadnoughts as dark as the void. Each ship is like a hive holding scores of Locusts, smaller transports full of frenzied marauders eager to be unleashed on raid-worlds. You are free to imagine what these ships look like, and invent new ones too.
Vehicles: Spider-legged tanks, ominous war-towers hovering over the flatlands, stilt-legged walkers scouring the wastes like predators, anything you can imagine that would frighten their enemies. The Scaoth have no rule against the use of droids or cybernetics.
Given the assimilate nature of the Horde, the forces of the Scaoth are sourced from several places. Most of their squads are a mix of these. Cadre’s that include thralls always include a skulled warrior to keep them in line.
The Missing
In preparation for their war, the Scaoth used the UniStar Conglomerate to capture people from every corner of the galaxy and any faction they saw as a threat, to better study their weaknesses before enthralling them into their service. The Scaoth enjoy the cruelty of forcing their enemy to fight their own king.
The Firefist Species
The Scaoth have enthralled the planets of the Firefist galaxy and their native species, and forced them into joining their war effort. These include the Nagai, the Tof, the Maccabrees, and the Faruun.
Penal Colony
The Scaoth have taken control of a distant penal world, a dumping ground for the most dangerous criminals of nearby planets. Its inhabitants—the worst of the worst of war criminals, murderers, and pirates—have been forced to fight for the Masters.
Strandcasts
Using UniStar as a proxy, the Scaoth have taken possession of a batch of thousands of failed Strandcasts—artificial genetic life forms. The Strands have been indoctrinated into worshiping the Princes and given rudimentary battle training. The Strandcasts are badly made and exist in constant pain, and must be given a regular supply of bactan gas to function. They are the expendable frontline.
Pyerce’s Remnant
The last vestiges of Pyerce’s Remnant have been integrated into the existing force of prisoners and thralls, and corrupted further to become soulless killers for the Scaoth horde.
The Zhra’ad, Princes of the Scaoth
The Exalted Zhra’ad, or Princes of the Scaoth, were once trueborn sons of the mysterious Grysk Hegemony, before their embrace of the dangerous, long-forgotten philosophies based on the ancient tomes of the Abhorus Scriptums saw them forced into the death-sentence of exile. In their exile, they made themselves into something else entirely.
It is said that the Grysk can seduce entire planets into their service, but the Zhra’ad (a Grysk word for “Abomination”) total only four in number. They have been forced to turn to darker methods to survive and build their horde: death magic, outright domination and enslavement instead of the coercing typical of their kind. They have ascended to a plane of self-declared godhood, rarely glimpsed by their devotees, delivering all their desires and declarations by way of loyal prophets. The splinter kingdom they have formed is called the Scaoth (a Grysk word for “Wretched” or “Pitiful” that the Zhra’ad have embraced), and the army they have assembled to do their bidding is, formerly, the “Azot Scaoth”; a brutal horde of the enthralled and dispossessed driven to conquer the Scaoth’s enemies.
Much of the Scaoth’s work is done, surprisingly, by way of diplomacy. Their envoys, the Ibun Scaoth, are dispatched to entreat potential allies, swaying them with honeyed words, promises of riches and safety, and anything else their target may desire. Ultimately, they twist their target’s mind to their will, enslaving their hopes, dreams, and fears until they gladly fight and die for the Scaoth.
Hierarchy of the Scaoth
The Zhra’ad, the Princes of the Scaoth
The Zhra’ad are distant gods to their people. Very rarely seen, their presence is nonetheless constant through decrees, blessings, and judgements delivered by their prophets. Their word is law, and their favor is all that matters.
The Prophets
The revered, all-knowing prophets who disseminate the words of the Princes. The most visible is the Voice of the Zhra’ad.
The Turul
The class of Warleaders, Witches, and Smiths.
The Makar
Tacticians, thrall-drivers, commanders.
The Skulled
Warriors who have proven their fanatical commitment to the War by claiming a plethora of kills. They are true believers, zealots of the Zhra’ad.
Strands
A mysterious army of malformed Strandcasts, with a secret tied to the known galaxy. The Strandcasts are badly made and exist in constant pain, and must wear bactan gas breathers to function. They are the expendable Frontline.
Thralls and Assimilates
Slaves forced to fight, the first of whom were the inhabitants of a dungeon world deep in Unknown Space, currently the secret Horde-world. Assimilates are outsider warriors who’ve yet to prove themselves to the Horde (such as Pyerce’s Imperial remnant.) They are regularly starved, and forced to fight for their own survival.
Villain Concepts
Below are several warlords and leaders (Turul) among the Horde. Every player can also create their own to depict in their builds. These examples are available for use (some are specifically tied to certain Battles, so cross-check as necessary) but are also meant to inspire.
The Voice of the Zhra’ad
The Eyeless One. The dark priest of the Horde serves as the voice of the scorned Princes, the Masters. It bestows their wisdom and bidding, preaching the Scorn-way, decrying the so-called “force”, an unreal and unworthy power. The Voice travels the galaxy, seducing new warriors to the Horde’s cause.
Sedr, the Witch
She who blesses and consecrates the vicious warbands, using rites to prepare them for the sacred act of taking skulls. She is integral to teaching new thralls about the True Truth, the way of the Scorned.
Korathion, Lord of Raids
The iron fist of the Horde, the cruelest ripper of them all, breaker of more skulls than any beside him. The Breaker, the Mongrel, the Blood-Tide himself.
Aamon, the Exile
Denied death, the exiled thing once called Moff Pyerce stomps ahead of his war parties, a haunting visage reduced to a shell, stripped of his will and forced to serve another.
Vamyel, the Stalker
A dark avatar of the Horde, a relentless shade who hunts prey across the galaxy. Leader of the Wraiths, the assassin class that slinks around the galaxy ahead of the Horde-tide.
Lox, the Striper
He who lords over the thralls, bending their wills and forcing them to become loyal, zealous warriors. Works closely with Sedr.
Sartig, the Anvil
He who oversees the Horde’s moving factories, melting down the raid-worlds, driving his cage-thralls to churn out tools and war machines.
RULES
- Every participating builder can submit one (1) build for the episode. There are no size restrictions. The goal of this episode is to create truly great work, with feedback from the entire community, and refine that work over a two month period. It might help to think of it as more like a collab, or a shared build series. Showstopper, creative builds that showcase the kind of talent and support our community is known for, the kind of work you’d be proud to display.
- All XP earned by Episode builds can be reassigned for IP to any accessible world by the relevant Faction Leader.
- Episode III, Part II will run from February 1st through March 31st. As long as it is March 31st somewhere in the world, you can still post your entry. Until March 31st, all entries are considered Works in Progress, and you can continue updating them throughout the Episode if you wish.
- All entries must feature creations built specifically for this Episode. Nothing built before February 1st can be entered.
- All entries must be posted on the forums on swfactions.net. All entries must include “episodeiii” and “ra’un” in the tags, and some variation of (Episode III, Part 2) in the title.
PRIZES
- All Factions that earn 10 XP per active member (active members are decided by members having an account on the Factions forum) will learn the location of 5 VP in their sub-regions.
- This means players you recruit or who join the forum for the first time will not count against your total.
- All XP earned by Episode builds can be reassigned for IP to any accessible world by the relevant Faction Leader.
- Factions are introducing achievement badges. The first of these badges is awarded to builders who delivers an extraordinary effort. Builders that put in the work and post builds that score 20+ will truly have distinguished themselves in battle. These players will earn the title of War Hero of Ra’un, and will be awarded with the Broken Seal of the Scaoth Badge.
- (Does scoring 20+ sound impossible? Remember: the best way to score more points is to ask for detailed feedback from your peers and Faction Leaders, and then implement their advice to help the build be the best it can be. The rest is just teamwork and creativity!
- Physical LEGO Prizes: For the second part of Episode III there will be physical prizes. There will be two prize pools (1. Americas + Australia, 2. Europe + Rest of world) to decrease shipping costs and time. Prizes will be announced soon, but the structure can be seen below.
