Darklands» Blinding Are Its Mysteries

High-level adventuring on the world of Irra.

Adventure reference

Character creation

Level: 16th / 17th (depending on number of players).

Starting wealth: 260,000 gp / 340,000 gp (depending on number of players) (see note about equipment, below).

Ability score generation: From the 6×6 matrix below, you may select a set of 6 ability scores by reading in a straight line anywhere on the matrix, whether that be reading a row forwards or backwards, reading a column up or down, or either diagonal backwards or forwards. You must use the scores in that set in order (Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha).

15 10 13 12 15 17
14 16 13 17 12 13
15 15 16 17  9 12
17 13 17 14 17 15
12 12 11  9 15 12
16 14 13 12  9 16

Allowed materials

Allowed races

See here for a list of allowed races, excluding dwarves and elves (half-elves are permitted). (These are just the standard core races, but with racial attributes adjusted. Note that a small handful of the rules on that page aren’t quite compatible with the Beyond Ragnarok system; adjustment/analogues are usually obvious, but if something’s unclear, let me know. Also, ignore the bits about racial class variants.)

Allowed classes

Base classes:

• barbarian (PHB)
• bard (PHB, but see alterations)
• cleric (PHB, but see alterations)
• druid (PHB, but see alterations)
• fighter
• hexblade (Complete Warrior, but see alterations)
• ranger (PHB, but see alterations)
• rogue (PHB, but see alterations; see also changes to sneak attack, under Combat and Monster Rules)
• sorcerer (PHB, but see alterations)
• wizard (PHB, but see alterations)

Prestige classes:

• arcane trickster (DMG, but see alterations)
• dragon disciple
• eldritch knight (DMG, but see alterations)
• frost mage (Frostburn, but see alterations)
• frostrager (Frostburn, but see alterations)
• occult slayer
• spellsword (Complete Warrior, but see alterations)
• stormsinger (Frostburn, but see alterations)
• sublime chord (Complete Arcane, but see alterations)
• war chanter

Gods & domains (for clerics)

All cleric characters must belong to a church or similar organized faith. (This has less to do with following the commands / precepts of a given deity, and rather more to do with the cleric’s being associated with a clerical hierarchy—being able to call on the resources of his church, in accordance with his station, and relying on the cooperation of the faithful, while also being expected to act more or less in line with the church’s teachings, and defer, when necessary, to superiors in the hierarchy.)

The following deities have enough presence in the setting to have churches or organized faiths. Also listed below are domains available for clerics of that faith. (Domains are from the Player’s Handbook, unless linked or noted otherwise.)

(Note on “alignment” of deities: ignore any alignment specified for gods, here or in any other sources. The deity’s teachings/beliefs/etc., and the philosophy and attitudes of the deity’s mortal servants, determines what sort of characters may appropriately follow that deity.)

A final note, for character-background purposes: worship of Pelor is overwhelmingly the most numerous, popular, and influential organized faith. Worship of the other deities listed here is mostly associated with small holy orders, monasteries, or minor local or provincial churches.

• Pelor
  • Glory, Good, Healing, Strength, Sun
• Fharlanghn
  • Luck, Protection, Travel
• Heironeous
  • Good, Law, War
• Obad-Hai
  • Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water
• Ayailla (Book of Exalted Deeds)
  • Glory, Good, Sun
• Phieran (Book of Exalted Deeds)
  • Endurance^BoED, Good, Law, Protection
• Xan Yae (Complete Divine)
  • Celerity^CD, Knowledge, Trickery, War

Allowed feats

All the feats listed on the Feats Index, with the following caveats/exceptions:

• Any feat that requires being evil, necromancy, serving dark powers, etc., is not allowed (e.g. Disciple of Darkness, Profane Vigor, Malign Spell Focus, Infernal Wild Shape, etc.)
• The item creation feats are allowed
  • You may start play with items that you have crafted; these count for only their crafting cost, rather than market price, toward the starting wealth total. However, you must pay the appropriate amount of XP (which will cause you to begin play 1 level behind the given starting level).
    • Remember that the cooperative experience costs rule is in effect.
• Regional feats are not allowed (as they are specific to the Slavic Lands campaign setting, which is not where this adventure takes place)
• Improve Class Ability is allowed

Allowed spells

Everything on the Spell Lists that’s not a “rare spell” is freely available. Likewise see the Spell Lists page for rare spell availability rules.

Note that casting Evil spells is frowned upon by most of the faiths listed above.

Skills

See the Skills page for info on skills.

Additionally, all characters get free skill points, equal to character level × [1 + (1 per 2 points of Int bonus)]; these may only be spent on Knowledge skills (and still follow class vs. cross-class skill rules).

Skills that are more likely than usual to be of use in this adventure are:

• Balance
• Climb
• Decipher Script
• Disable Device
• Disguise
• Escape Artist
• Jump

(The usual lineup of always-relevant skills such as Spot, Listen, etc., remain as relevant as always.)

Skills not likely to be of use in this adventure are:

• Appraise
• Forgery
• Gather Information
• Handle Animal
• Ride
• Swim

New Knowledge area: imperial politics

This Knowledge area covers:

• How the government and its parts and offices work
• What the laws say, and how do they work in practice
• Understanding of “political realities” in general
• The various (political, religious, military, etc.) social hierarchies of the Empire

Skill synergy for new skills

The following synergy bonuses are in effect:

• A character with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (Imperial politics) gains a +2 synergy bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive checks when interacting with Imperial officials and members of the Emperor’s court
• A character with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (war) gains a +2 synergy bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive checks when interacting with soldiers and officers of the Imperial military

Equipment

Everything in the Dungeon Master’s Guide is allowed, with the following exceptions:

• Items that are evil, require the wielder/user to be evil, etc.
• Anything that uses or creates a spell or effect that is not allowed (e.g. items of teleport)
• Ability score boosting items
  • This applies only to the “standard” six types of items that only boost ability scores (gauntlets of ogre power, periapt of wisdom, etc.); other items that happen to boost ability scores (such as a rod of splendor) are allowed.
• Metamagic rods

The following things are also allowed:

• The items on the New Magic Items page
• Most non-unique items from the following pages (subject to the above caveat about evil items):
  • Armor
  • Alchemical & Superior Items

to be completed…

Note: No single item you select may be worth more than 75,000 gp (except a weapon, which may be worth up to 120,000 gp).

Rules summary

A rundown of how the Beyond Ragnarok rules differ from D&D 3.5.

General

• The set of available feats differs from those in the Core Rules (see above)
  • Many feats have been modified from their published versions, and some available feats are entirely new; see full descriptions at New & Modified Feats

Classes

• The set of available classes differs from those in the Core Rules (see above)
• Most classes have been modified in some way, some quite extensively; some entirely new classes have been added (see New & Modified Classes for details)
• The fractional base bonuses rule is in effect (changing how base attack and save bonuses are calculated for multiclassed characters)

Gods & domains

• The set of deities a cleric can choose to follow is different from those in the Core Rules
• See Gods & domains above

Spells & magic

• Many spells have been added (some from splatbooks, others entirely custom); many Core spells have been modified
  • See New & Modified Spells for details
  • See Spell Lists for full spell lists for every spellcasting class
• The way that spell save DCs are calculated has been modified

Combat

• Several combat rules have been modified
  • (specifically, the rogue’s sneak attack ability, and the overrun and sunder combat maneuvers, and size modifiers to grapple checks)
• The rules for Vision & Light work differently (more like Pathfinder, though not exactly)
• The rules for Disease & Poison work differently (more like Pathfinder, though not exactly)
  Note: poison is now a considerably more attractive—effective and efficient—combat option for player characters

Skills

• Several skills have been slightly modified
• An entirely new skill (suitable for taking by adventurer PCs), Poisonmaking, has been added

Monsters

• Many undead and constructs are no longer immune to critical hits

Equipment

• The rules for save DCs of magic item powers have been modified
• Some new magic items are available

Miscellaneous

• The rules for death & resurrection are different
• The rules for alignment are different
• Characters of middle age or older must contend with additional effects of aging