Savestate / Story guide
The plan
The plan for Savestate: who's in it, where it happens, and how the story is meant to go. Nothing's written yet, so all of this will change as it gets written. Anything past the setup is folded under a spoiler.
Characters
Jack
A soldier who remembers every life he's lived
Jack is a soldier in a war that never ends. He dies in a brutal battle and wakes up on a new planet remembering everything: every life, every battle, every loss. As far as he can tell, no one else remembers anything.
Spoilers
His memory makes him an outcast and a formidable soldier at once, since he remembers tactics everyone else has forgotten, but he also carries lifetimes of war nobody else has to. He learns the ability came from a freak accident with alien technology in a past life, a blessing and a curse. With Lira and Dr. Zephra he hunts for the truth about the reincarnation cycle and a way to break it, and he finally confronts General Korgon using everything his past lives taught him.
Lira
Pilot from Xerion; Jack's closest ally
Lira is a skilled, determined pilot from the planet Xerion, fighting to protect her homeworld. Like everyone else, she has no idea she's lived before.
Spoilers
She becomes Jack's closest ally, and her loyalty and tactical brilliance turn out to be essential. As she learns more about the cycle, her goal shifts from protecting her planet and the people she loves to helping Jack break it.
Dr. Zephra
Scientist who studies reincarnation
Dr. Zephra is an interstellar scientist who specializes in advanced technology and reincarnation, and who wants to know why Jack is different.
Spoilers
Zephra becomes Jack's mentor and intellectual ally, working out the mechanics of reincarnation with him. It's Zephra who discovers the ancient technology that might hold the key to breaking the cycle.
General Korgon
Ruthless leader of Valthar; the antagonist
General Korgon leads the planet Valthar, a hardened commander who has thrived in the endless war and believes it can only end in total domination. He has no idea he's been reborn before.
Spoilers
He means to conquer every planet in the reincarnation bucket, Earth included, and he stands for the blind aggression that keeps the cycle turning. Jack and his allies face him on the battlefield at the climax.
Places
The reincarnation bucket
The cluster of planets locked in the cycle
A cluster of planets, Earth among them, locked into one reincarnation cycle. When someone dies on one of them, they're reborn on another and go right back to fighting.
Spoilers
It's why the war never ends: soldiers and generals keep coming back for another round with no memory of the last one. The story travels between its planets as Jack and his allies fight and dig for answers.
Xerion
Lira's homeworld
One of the planets in the reincarnation bucket, and the home Lira fights to protect.
Spoilers
Protecting it is what Lira wants before she learns the truth about the cycle.
Valthar
General Korgon's planet
The planet General Korgon leads, and the seat of the forces opposing Jack.
Spoilers
From Valthar, Korgon aims to conquer every planet in the bucket.
Earth
One of the planets in the cycle
Earth is one of the planets in the reincarnation bucket, caught in the same war as the others.
Spoilers
Korgon's plans for conquest include it. In the Eternal Battlefield version of the idea, Earth is where Jack wakes up at the start.
Things
The reincarnation technology
The system behind the cycle
An ancient technology connects the planets of the bucket. When someone dies, it carries their essence into a new body on another planet.
Spoilers
Dr. Zephra spends much of the story researching where it came from. In the climax Jack tries to use it to break the cycle, and in the Savestate ending the reincarnation process is stopped.
The freak accident
Why Jack remembers
Something happened to Jack in one of his past lives that no one else has ever gone through. He doesn't know what it was.
Spoilers
During a battle with the alien species, their experimental technology malfunctioned, and he came out of it able to keep the memories of all his past lives. Learning this deepens his determination to break the cycle.
Groups
The alien species
The source of Jack's accident
An alien species whose technology is far beyond anything on the planets of the reincarnation bucket.
Spoilers
In one of Jack's past lives he fought them, their experimental technology malfunctioned, and he came out of it able to keep his memories. Their culture and motives are still largely unknown. In the Eternal Battlefield version of the idea, they are the ones behind the cycle itself.
Story beats
Show the planned beatsSpoilers for the whole plan
Act One: Awakening
- Death in battle
Jack dies in a brutal battle in the war that never ends.
- He remembers
He wakes on a new planet remembering every past life, and realizes no one else does.
- The outcast
Horrified and set apart by what he knows, he resolves to find out why he's different.
- Allies
He meets Lira, a pilot, and Dr. Zephra, a scientist who studies reincarnation, and they team up to uncover the truth and stop the war.
Act Two: Discovery and Revelation
- Across the planets
The team travels between the planets of the bucket, fighting battles and piecing together how reincarnation works.
- The ancient technology
Zephra discovers the ancient technology that links the planets and might hold the key to breaking the cycle.
- The first major battle
Their first major battle tests their resolve and skills, with General Korgon's forces among the enemies they face.
- The accident
Jack learns that his memory comes from a malfunction of alien technology during a battle in a past life, both a blessing and a curse.
Act Three: Breaking the Cycle
- Facing Korgon
Jack and his allies confront General Korgon on the battlefield, and Jack reveals the truth about reincarnation.
- Every past life
Using everything his past lives taught him and the ancient technology they found, Jack defeats Korgon and tries to break the cycle.
- Peace
The reincarnation process stops and the war ends; Jack reflects on what it cost and looks to the future with hope.