FACTION 01 — INSTITUTES
GOLEMS & MAD SCIENTISTS
Attrition — durable constructed units that grind forward; income compounds through structure placement
RESOURCE — POWER
Generated by deployed structures near objectives. The more ground they hold and build on, the more they can afford to do.
Golems deploy structures near objective hexes to generate Power income. The more structures they hold, the more they earn each round. Purely Melee — no ranged attack, no burst — just durable constructed units that keep moving forward and grinding the enemy down.
HISTORY
Somewhere between ~20,000 and 25,000 years ago, the technique of binding vital force into constructed matter was discovered independently across multiple cultures. The Institutes have never agreed on who found it first. They have never agreed on much. But they all agree on what the constructs are for: to endure, to hold, and to outlast everything thrown at them.
UNIT ROSTER
Tier 1 — Lesser
Tier 2 — Soldier
Tier 3 — Elite
Tier 4 — Champion
INSTITUTES
Each institute grants your Commander a unique ability drawn from a specific mythological tradition.
ROOT
Golem
Jewish/Kabbalistic — Central/Eastern European
Institute of the Sealed Name
Crest: A clay tablet with a single word carved through its center
COMMANDER ABILITY — INSCRIPTION
Once per match, permanently inscribe one friendly unit — that unit cannot have its upgrades removed for any reason for the rest of the match.
“The word holds. The word always holds.”
Institute of the Waking Clay
Crest: A hand pressing into wet clay, leaving a permanent impression
COMMANDER ABILITY — REFORMATION
Once per match, immediately restore one destroyed friendly unit to half its starting members. They deploy on the hex the Commander currently occupies.
“It was not finished. It is never finished.”
Institute of the Erased Letter
Crest: A forehead with one letter scratched out
COMMANDER ABILITY — UNMAKE
Once per match, permanently reduce one enemy unit's ATK by 200. Cannot target Commanders.
“The difference between EMET and MET is one letter. Truth and death. They know which one to remove.”
ROOT
Automaton
Greek/Hellenistic — Talos, Hephaestus
Institute of the Bronze Nail
Crest: A giant bronze figure with one ankle glowing
COMMANDER ABILITY — ICHOR VEIN
While this Commander is alive, all friendly units within 3 hexes gain +100 HP per member. If Commander dies, the bonus is lost.
“Everything flows from the vein. Cut the vein and it all ends.”
Institute of the Forged Aegis
Crest: A shield with a forge mark at its center
COMMANDER ABILITY — DIVINE TEMPER
Once per round, reduce the damage taken by one friendly unit this turn by half. Free action.
“Hephaestus did not build things to break.”
Institute of the Cretan Shore
Crest: A coastline with a bronze silhouette standing at its edge
COMMANDER ABILITY — PERIMETER
Friendly units cannot be moved off an objective hex by any push or pull effect while this Commander is within 3 hexes.
“Nothing passes. Nothing has ever passed.”
Institute of the Ingenious Device
Crest: An open book with gears emerging from its pages
COMMANDER ABILITY — REPROGRAMMED PURPOSE
Once per match, permanently change one friendly unit's movement cost from 200 to 100 for the rest of the match.
“It was built to carry water. Now it carries war.”
Institute of the Thousand Mechanisms
Crest: A hand with each finger replaced by a different tool
COMMANDER ABILITY — ADAPTIVE CONFIGURATION
Once per round, grant one friendly unit +100 to any single stat (ATK, DFN, or ARM) until end of turn. Choose after seeing the enemy's action.
“Every problem has a configuration that solves it.”
Institute of the Perpetual Motion
Crest: A wheel that has no visible axle
COMMANDER ABILITY — SUSTAINED OPERATION
Friendly units within 2 hexes do not become Exhausted after attacking on odd rounds.
“It should have stopped by now. It has not stopped.”
ROOT
Frankenstein
European — Gothic/Industrial
Institute of the Stolen Lightning
Crest: A lightning bolt driving downward into a prone figure
COMMANDER ABILITY — GALVANIZE
Once per round, immediately Reset one friendly Exhausted unit. They may act again this turn.
“The lightning does not ask if it should. It simply strikes.”
Institute of the Unfinished Work
Crest: A figure half-wrapped in bandages, one arm exposed
COMMANDER ABILITY — SPARE PARTS
When any friendly unit is destroyed, immediately gain 200 Power (ignores cap that turn).
“Nothing is wasted in this laboratory. Nothing.”
Institute of the Wrong Question
Crest: An open skull with gears visible inside
COMMANDER ABILITY — FORBIDDEN UPGRADE
Once per match, grant one friendly unit a second upgrade slot — it may hold two upgrades simultaneously until destroyed.
“The question was not whether they could. That was never the interesting question.”
FACTION TIMELINE
The technique of binding vital force into constructed matter does not yet exist. Or it exists and no one has found it yet. The Golems do not record which.
Vital-force transfer discovered independently across multiple cultures. Each Institute claims priority. None can prove it.
First Golem constructed for military use. Prior Golems were labor, record-keeping, and ceremony.
Institute of the Stolen Lightning breaks from its parent Institute over a methodology dispute. First Institute schism. Not the last.(vague)
Golem forces hold a contested river crossing for what records describe as "several decades without resupply." No one questions this.(vague)
A Mad Scientist defects to the Sorcerer Bloodlines. Takes something with them. The Institutes do not say what.(vague)
First recorded Golem-Atlantean engagement. Atlanteans deploy push/pull tactics against Golem fortifications. Golems adapt. Atlanteans note this.(disputed)
A Nahual Werewolf pack annihilates a Golem survey team in contested highland territory. Reason undocumented. Neither side files a formal account.