Archangel Frame takes place in an anime-inspired world of digital ghosts and incendiary style.

TERROR FROM THE STARS

In the year 618, disparate, once-clashing human cultures have joined forces against a common foe: fearsome Devil Engines, piloted by the supernatural beings known as Ectics. It has been ten years since the Devil Engines appeared from within the Charon Belt, devastating Iorvenn’s capital city and leaving the country without an Emperor. In Jessabrasca, the ever optimistic populace clings to the besieged agricultural colonies that they founded among the stars just under a century ago. The tightly controlled borders of the Patch Islands have been reopened to embrace another battle for justice, the republic still wary of the allies that have betrayed them time and time again.

In the midst of this chaos, Beladyr has reactivated their prized war machines, the Archangel Frames, mechanical knights that brought them victory in their lengthy conflict against the hivemind state of Consensus fifty years ago. Project Gabriel, now tasked with the tactical deployment of the Frames, strives to protect not just Beladyr, but the entirety of humanity.

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THE FIVE NATIONS

  • Beladyr, the Kingdom of War and Beauty. Once, the royal dominion was home to the world’s greatest heroes; now, excess and plenty have corroded Beladyri chivalry, leaving a vain, perverse aristocracy and a distracted peasantry. Greed, celebrity, and inequality reign, as individual citizens struggle for meaning.

  • Iorvenn, the Penitent Empire. The Iorvenn of generations past was the spectre of the ancient world, conquering lesser nations and securing primacy with brutal oppression. Today’s rulers have made a deliberate break from the cruelties of the past and choose to leverage the state’s extensive supervillain infrastructure to create lasting benefit for the world.

  • Jessabrasca, the Celebration State. Jessabrasca is the scientific capital of the world as well as its favorite resort destination. It has also been the prime target of the Devil Engines, whose assaults have leveled huge sections of the bright nation. Now, the newest generation races to preserve every precious mote of the country’s wounded identity.

  • The Patch Islands, the Survivors' Republic. The Patch Islanders have joined every war in history, each time on the side of justice and virtue -- and every time, they have lost territory to their “allies”. As a result, their once proud martial tradition has wilted, and their latest generation has a jaded outlook on the rest of the world. Still, the old values demand kindness, and most Islanders can’t help but lend a hand even as their nation suffocates.

  • Consensus, the Hivemind. The rise of Consensus was relatively recent: a lash of Charon Belt energy linked the minds of its first citizens, and despite the ready availability of a cure, they decided to remain a collective and found a new nation. After ousting a pocket of prejudiced thoughts from its network, Consensus is now a geopolitical wildcard, pursuing esoteric research and gleefully confounding the rest of the world.

NATION PRIMERS

The full Primers for each Nation are available in the Google Drive folder here: Archangel Frame Nation Primers.

SETTING DESIGN PRINCIPLES

The Archangel Frame setting is built to provide context for high-engagement emotional roleplay. The five nations each offer distinctive shades of backstory stress and tension, from Beladyri privilege and posturing to Iorvennic guilt and Jessabrascan grief. Yet each has a reason to hope: muted, long-forgotten ideals suffuse the nations, promising to blossom once more on the shoulders of new heroes. Every character in Archangel Frame comes from an embattled history, with challenges in their past to ensure they hit their first event running.

In this world, power and wealth have consolidated into the hands of few. The authorities claim that only the infrastructure they control can stop the Ectic assault -- but more and more, their sinister agendas pull at Project Gabriel. 

Each nation is also designed with a distinctive style in mind. The national aesthetics can make roleplay with national themes more accessible through ease of recognition. They also provide a visual starting point to give scenes additional context and character.