0One Games Dark Masters.pdf

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Dark Masters

By Andrew Hind

Editing: Mario Barbati

Software Engineer: Anna Fava

Graphic Design: O’Bully

Cartography: O’Bully

Cover: Daniele Bigliardo

Internal Artwork: Daniele Bigliardo,

Additional Artwork: Gianluca Acciarino (pages

37 and 39)

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15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Dark Masters © by Øone Roleplaying Games

Øone Roleplaying Games

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master@Øonegames.com

4,Devil Worship

4, Methodology and Cosmology

4, Role in the World

4, Alignment

5, The Price of Worship

5, Ishale

8, Demara

15, Minakhta

23, Badenoch the Red Cap

32, Aatxe

37, Wealtha

44, Minor Entities

44, Nottawasaga

46, Shah-E-Kot

47, Lantern Jack

50, Ashen Pilgrim

51, New Prestige Class: The Spineless

53, War Domain Spells

able, and yet the allure is all too real. Devil worship,

in fact and fiction, has been a part of our world

since before any of the current practiced religions were

even formed. From appeasing a vengeful nature demon

with sacrifices to cloistered cultists summoning devils

amid a pentagram, there have always been those who

were willing to gamble with their souls by making pacts

with the denizens of the infernal realms.

But let’s face it; most people won’t easily turn to evil,

nor will those who do advertise the fact by worshipping

outsiders openly. Any deity that is readily identified as evil

is not likely to receive many converts among the good

races, and any clergyman that proclaims himself to such a

religion isn’t likely to live long-if roving bands of adven-

turers don’t get them, inquisitors or angry mobs will.

As a result, except in the most deprived and perverted

societies, the existence of these evil deities and their cults

will be largely unknown to the general populace. They

will be mysterious and feared; the mere mention of

hooded cultists or curse-afflicting witches is likely to send

a community into a panicked frenzy (turn to the Salem

Witch Trials as a case study of such behavior).

And yet, all too often in RPGs, this aspect-worship-

ping demons and devils as legitimate, if decidedly evil

deities-is overlooked. While one would hope they never

surpass the good-gods, they do in fact represent an alter-

native pantheon if you will.

Nevertheless, there are indeed pockets of individuals,

many of whom would hardly consider themselves twisted

or evil, who do indeed worship devils and demons. But

why? After all, what would a blacksmith have to gain from

praying to an evil deity of slaughter? Absolutely nothing,

truth be told. That’s why most devils and demons actually

seek to act much more subtly. They target common folk

by fixating on certain specific aspects that affects their daily

life, then twist and pervert it to serve their own interests.

Methodology and Cosmology

In some cultures, the demons and devils (often called

fiends) are simply the servants of evil gods, just as celes-

tials are servants of the good gods. In others, the most

powerful demons are gods in their own right. Hades, for

example, could be considered a demon. It would be even

easier to make the case that Kali is a demon.

For example, a devil might gain many converts by pre-

senting himself as a deity of smithing and offering wor-

shippers access to infernal flames with which to power

their forge, hellish ores from which to craft items, and

even freedom from competition by sending their min-

ions to destroy rivals. The blacksmith likely does not ini-

tially realize he is worshipping evil, but soon finds himself

entrenched and too corrupted to contemplate escape. In

essence, he has sold his soul for success and is now little

more than a slave.

The “demons” we are most concerned with in Dark

Masters are those ecil entities that are outcast when the

forces of good triumph in an area. In some cases, the

good gods exile, bind, or more rarely kill the evil entity

in question. Examples from earth mythology include the

Christian God casting out Satan, or the chaining of Loki

by the Norse gods.

In other cases, demons are created when the worship-

pers of good gods take control of a society and outlaw the

worship of evil gods. No one knows whether the loss of

worshippers weakens evil gods, or perhaps all deities have

a pact not to directly interfere actively in the mortal realm,

but regardless the end result is that the outcast entity must

start working in a much less obvious manner, using guile

and lesser minions to spread its influence.

By necessity, devils and demons often need to be spe-

cialized, because to do otherwise would be to attract the

immediate attention and retribution of the celestials. This

also means that they must be plotters and schemers, seek-

ing both to increase their standing vis-à-vis other fiends

in a Byzantine play for influence and to undermine the

influence of the good and neutral gods.

Role in the World

Fiends play a central role in the cosmologies, providing

a counter balance to the good and neutral deities. Many

barbaric humanoid races, orcs and goblinoids foremost

among them, openly worship demons and devils. It’s in

this form that adventurers most often come across these

infernal beings and their mortal agents.

Alignment

Alignment plays a decisive role in determining the

nature of a demon and its clergy, its interaction with mor-

tals, and the composition of its church.

Lawful Evil fiends tend to be tyrannical. They believe in

imposing order to avoid anarchy, in the assumption that

only the strongest and smartest should rule. All others

exist only to serve. Their worshippers are the rightful rul-

ers of the world, and seek to use force-generally military

conquest-to bring others in line with their point of view.

Quite often followers know their masters’ plots (or part

of them), and actively work towards these objectives with

the promise of received a position of importance in the

New World Order in return for loyal service.

But it would be a mistake to believe that the “good”

races-humans, elves, dwarves, and the rest-are impervi-

ous to the seductive allure of demons and devils. Indeed,

it’s among these peoples that many outsiders devote their

attention, both because they represent a largely untapped

pool of worshippers and because stealing away followers

weakens the influence of their celestial enemies.

Devil Worship

T he perils are great, the potential dangers unmistak-

Lawful Evil worshippers may be tolerated for a while

by other alignments, especially by societies desperate for

someone to forge order out of chaos. The rigid authori-

tarianism often results in increased nationalism, greater

success in war, a focused channeling of resources for the

sake of industry, improved social services and infrastruc-

ture, and reduced crime. Many are willing to trade off

their freedoms for such benefits (look no further than

Nazi Germany as a real-world example), but in the end

good-peoples will recognize the foul stench of despotism

and the threat that Lawful Evil represents and will seek to

contain or destroy it.

would one take the risk? Devil worship offers a quicker,

easier, and more seductive path to power.

Followers of the true gods gain only subtle advan-

tages for their adherence because the gods do not want to

overtly interfere on their lives—the point of a mortal exis-

tence is, after all, to learn for oneself and build character.

Guidance and assistance is thus extremely limited.

Those who elect to worship devils, however, find their

patrons are far less concerned with such niceties. They are

likely to intervene directly to assist their followers, and are

even willing to enter the mortal plane themselves when

the need arises. Clerics gain extra powers in the form of

extra spell slots and special abilities, but at a cost. Only the

mightiest of fiends are able to provide offer their followers

spells up to 9 th -level of ability; most others are far more

limited in scope of their assistance. Worshippers may also

find themselves cursed in some manner-physical defects,

insanity, emotional imbalance, or misfortune.

Neutral Evil fiends are greedy and self-serving individu-

als who care little for ideals and are mercenary enough to

align with anything that will advance their interests. They

typically do not seek to overthrow nations or to assume

control of societies; instead, most are thieves and rogues,

individuals who will do anything to come out on top,

including murder. These fiends are leeches, feeding their

own needs through their followers, who are inevitably

cast aside when they are no longer useful.

Ishale

Medium Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar)

Hit Dice: 20d8+120 (210 hp)

Initiative: +11 (Dex)

Speed: 60 ft., Climb 30 ft

Armor Class: 24 (+3 natural, +11 Dex)

Base Attack/Grapple: +20/+28

Attack: +2 keen two-bladed sword +27 melee (1d8+9)

Full Attack: +2 keen two-bladed sword

+27/+22/+17/+12 and +27/+22 melee (1d8+9)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.

Special Attacks: Painful Strike

Special Qualities: Devil Qualities, Fast Healing 10,

SR 20, Uncanny Dodge, Wall Crawler.

Saves: Fort +18, Ref +28, Will +17

Abilities: Str 27, Dex 33, Con 23, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 19

Skills: Balance +25, Climb +22, Escape Artist +25,

Gather Information +10, Intimidate +24, Jump

+25, Knowledge (Infernal Politics) +10, Knowledge

(Strategy and Tactics) +20, Listen +17, Ride +12, Search

+16, Spot +19, Tumble +34, Use Rope +14

Feats: Combat Reflexes (B), Deflect Arrow, Exotic

Weapon Proficiency (two-bladed sword), Improved

Critical, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Mobility

(B), Power Attack, Scar of Vengeance (new feat; see

sidebar below)(B), Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon

Focus (two-bladed sword)

Environment: Any land or underground

Organization: Unique

Challenge Rating: 19

Treasure: Standard

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Advancement: By character class

Worshippers of Neutral Evil deities are easy to overlook,

simply because they tend to be inconspicuous or appear

non-threatening at first. But, in their own way, they are as

real a threat to society as their other evil brethren, for their

criminal actions undermine a society’s morals, subvert its

economy, and breed corruption that affects the govern-

mental process. Inevitably, in the name of order, govern-

ments will seek to arrest their activities, but just as neutral

evil worshippers are apparently the least threatening of

the demon-followers, so too are they the most difficult to

expunge from a society.

For their part, Chaotic Evil entities hunger for power,

for pleasure, for blood. Their entire existence is directed

towards feeding their appetites. Nothing else matters,

and order of any kind is to be destroyed lest it seek to

impose restrictions on their pleasures. Chaotic Evil cannot

be reasoned with and its adherents lack a moral compass

of any kind. Followers are often crazed, deluded, or driven

mad by That-Which-Should-Remain-Unknown. Most

are anarchists, serial killers, drug pushers, or other devi-

ants.

Just as demons, the epitomy of chaos, eternally fight

among themselves, so too do mortals of this persuasion

engage in constant war against all comers. The good races

known that, unlike with the other evil persuasions, there

can be no conciliation with worshippers of chaotic evil

entities, because they are the antithesis of everything that

civilization strives to achieve. To allow chaotic evil to exist

even for a moment is to invite a stab in the back. No

quarter is expected in the war against chaos, and none is

given.

The Price of Worship

There are clear, if double-edged, incentives to devil wor-

ship. There would have to be, wouldn’t there? Why else

Ishale is Marshal in the armies of Baalzebub, Lord

of the Seventh Circle; She is tall (over 6’ in height) and

comely, though she has long spider legs sprouting from

her back in a mockery of the beautiful wings of celes-

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