d20 Mongoose Publishing The Book of Immortals.pdf

The Book of Immortals

Shannon Kalvar

Contents

Credits

Editor

Richard Ford

Cover Art

Randy Nunley

Introduction

The Path of Immortality

Wellsprings

Interior Illustrations

Adriano Batista, Alexandre Benhossi, Stacy Drum,

Vitor Ishimura, Rhonda Libbey, Danilo Moretti,

Tony Parker, Sean Parnell, Philip Renne, Chad

Sergesketter, Patricio Soler, Christophe Swal, Martijn

Vellinger

Studio Manager

Ian Barstow

Production Director

Alexander Fennell

Proof Reading

Jody MacGregor, Mark Quennell,

Sarah Quinnell, Ashley Tarmin

Covenants

Gifts

133

Challenges

190

The Immortal World

227

Aspiration to Transcendence 234

Immortal Characters

244

Index

250

Playtesting

Elton Barbara, Tanya Bergen, Mark Billanie, Adam

Brimmer, Antoine Buttigieg, Simon Galea, Kenneth

Gatt, Mark Gedak, Daniel Haslam, Mark Howe,

Patrick Kossmann, Kent Little, Alan Moore, Murray

Perry, Daniel Scothorne, Mark Sizer, Michael Young

Designer’s Notes

255

License

256

Open Game Content & Copyright Information

Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. The

Book of Immortals is presented under the Open Game and D20 Licences. See page 256 for the text of these licences.

All text paragraphs and tables containing game mechanics and statistics derivative of Open Game Content and the

System Reference Document are considered to be Open Game Content. All other signiﬁcant characters, names,

the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the d20

System License version 5.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. The mention of or

reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and

other countries and are used with permission. Printed in Canada.

Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing, Upper Floor, 52-54 Cricklade Road, Swindon, SN2 8AF, United Kingdom

info@mongoosepublishing.com

Visit the Mongoose Publishing website at www.mongoosepublishing.com for additional rules and news

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

B efore light, before shadow, before darkness,

Welcome to The Book

of Immortals

In The Book of Immortals , we turn our attention

to the fascinating adventures that take place when

characters begin to transcend the limitations placed

upon mortals. They begin to deal with the gods as

equals or at least as individuals with enough power

to change the world in their own right. They deal

directly with good and evil, law and chaos, in its

primal forms. They make bargains with celestial

before earth and sky and sea, there existed

many beings. These beings made all that is,

all that was and all that may ever be. They forged

the realms of existence: the planes, the seas, the gods

– everything. None know their names, though all

people tell stories of them and their creations. Even

the gods cannot speak truth about their nature. These

beings, whatever they are, set the stage for all that

would come.

Within the realms of existence,

one ﬁnds three states of being:

gods, mortals and beings who

stand somewhere between the

two. These latter beings, called

Immortals, wield powers far beyond

what mortals can hope to wield. They

can call up armies of spirits, spark the sky

into a raging blaze or shatter the earth with

a single blow from their mighty hands.

Great as their powers are though, they cannot

match the gods’ might.

Gods and Immortals wield incredible, world-

shaking powers, manipulate the fate of nations

and visit ruin upon those who oppose them.

They may have worshippers, temples, nations and

even entire worlds singing their praises. Most are as

ﬁckle as cats and seemingly indifferent to the damage

done to lesser beings in their titanic struggles with

cosmic forces.

But where does that leave the common man? A mere

puppet to be toyed with; a pawn to be used in the

endless games of the gods? For those brave enough

to take on the seemingly impossible there is hope,

for mortals can become Immortals. They can take up

arms against the gods themselves, shaping destiny to

suit their personal whims. Their powers can shelter

nations, strike down mountain ranges and shatter the

barriers between worlds.

The greatest challenge awaits you. Do you dare

to take up the reins of power? Do you dare to

challenge the forces of the universe, to take your

place among the stars?

Do you dare to become an Immortal?

INTRODUCTION

beings, play devils off against one another and

may even develop a cult dedicated to their eventual

deiﬁcation.

In The Book of Immortals , these high-level characters

are the heroes Immortals manipulate to achieve their

ends. They serve as cat’s paws and pawns, to be used

and thrown away. The Immortals may even set the

character up to fail. After all, when one falls another

foolish bit of clay will just rise to take his place.

The rules presented in this book provide players and

Games Masters with a structure with which they can

represent these heady levels of accomplishment. They

run parallel to the standard epic d20 rules, allowing

the characters to use both systems simultaneously or

for parties to split; some becoming epic characters

while others develop themselves along the Path of

Immortality.

Classical Games

Classical games are routinely considered the province

of non-d20 systems. These games deal directly with

fundamental questions about good and evil, law and

chaos or the proper use of power. Many use plot

elements from classical Greek and Roman myths,

infused with sensibilities drawn from other cultures.

The Three ‘Epics’

In the lexicon of roleplaying games, ‘epic’ can mean

one of the following: high-level games, classical

games or hybrid games. The Book of Immortals

supports this latter type of game, although the other

two types can use some of its elements.

At their core, these games address the question of

how a particular event or sequence of events changes

the characters’ world for good or ill. The characters

become directly involved, helping to shape the

outcome of events. Their choices and how well they

carry them out can usher in a new world, or bring the

old one to its knees.

High-Level Games

In the world of d20 we associate high-level and high

power games with ‘epic play’. Characters in this

kind of game wield remarkable powers, but their

adventures rarely vary much beyond the traditional

‘discover enemy, attack enemy, gather loot’ model.

There is something satisfying about such play; it is

the foundation of modern roleplaying games and

many enduringly successful computer games.

These games do not have to involve great powers

or the celestial host striding the land with swords

forged from light. A group of peasants struggling to

prevent their village from vanishing under a coming

ﬂood after ﬁghting a drought and holding back goblin

raiders for a season presents an epic struggle in the

classical sense.

Unfortunately, this kind of game suffers from

the classical ‘Grendel’s Mother’ problem. Once

the characters bring about the world-threatening

menaces’ bloody ruin, what do they do for an

encore? Fight another, bigger, uglier menace? Pick

up an even more powerful sword? Retire from the

ﬁeld to allow a new generation of adventurers to take

up their legacy?

The Book of Immortals can create this kind of game.

Speciﬁcally, its challenge/victory structure allows

Games Masters and players to model these stories in

ways the standard monster/trap challenge structure

does not.

Hybrid Games

By combining the two types of game we lump under

the term ‘epic’ we can create a third, hybrid, game

type. These games involve characters of great power

facing off with threats capable of destroying the

world.

In short, these sorts of games get old after a while.

The thrill of accomplishment can only take them so

far. Facing the same threats, over and over again,

does nothing to revitalise the game.

The Book of Immortals supports this third, hybrid,

type of game. Immortals and heroes mingle together,

pursuing their interests simultaneously. A mixed

party might engage in a high-level adventure, turn

around to face a creator’s challenge, then bicker with

an Immortal Host about whether or not they should

intervene in the fate of nations. Heroes can help

their Immortal friends progress through apotheosis.

Immortals can lend their power and favour to their

Standard post-level 20 rules adequately represent

characters in this style of game. They continue

to gain levels in a regular progression, eventually

achieving truly incredible levels of power. Their foes

become equally powerful but are not fundamentally

different from the orcs they sharpened their swords

on when they ﬁrst left the ﬁelds.

INTRODUCTION

mortal companions, helping them achieve the heady

heights of fame most mortals crave.

The ﬁrst chapter, this one, provides a brief overview

of the ideas contained in the book.

The threats and obstacles presented in this book

assume standard character progress to at least 14 th

level. Some of the challenges, especially those

derived from classical mythology, can scale as low as

6 th level. A Games Master may alter them for higher

or lower level play at his discretion.

The second chapter, The Path of Immortality,

provides an in-depth introduction to the rule systems

underlying The Book of Immortals . It covers the

terminology of Immortality, its effects on the

character and the differences between an Immortal

and a high-level character.

The third chapter, Wellsprings, details the effects of

tapping into universal power sources. These power

sources may be abstract concepts (e.g. Love or Good)

or the universe’s foundation stones (e.g. Fire or

Wind). As the character strengthens his connections

with these powers he gains additional beneﬁts and

penalties, called blessings and banes respectively.

Between These Pages

The Book of Immortals contains nine chapters, each

covering a different aspect of the Immortal world.

The book is arranged so that information for the

players resides in the front and information useful for

Games Masters takes up the rear portion.

The fourth chapter, Covenants, addresses those

Immortals who derive their powers through

agreements with other creatures. These agreements,

called covenants, stipulate the behaviour and

contributions for all involved parties. In exchange

for power from one party the Immortal agrees to

perform speciﬁc services and undertake particular

responsibilities. So long as both parties obey the

covenant, power ﬂows freely between the two.

The ﬁfth chapter, Gifts, outlines the powers

an Immortal develops as he progresses toward

apotheosis. These powers, called gifts, allow the

Immortal to use the might derived from his power

sources for his own ends. Gifts range from unique

abilities to servants and artefacts.

The sixth chapter, Challenges, begins the material

in this book focused on Games Masters rather

than players. It outlines the various

kinds of challenges characters

face along their path toward

transcendence. Either the

Games Master or the player can

arrange these challenges into unique

‘Immortality’, creating an opportunity

for players to customise not only their

characters, but also the campaign world

itself.

The seventh chapter, The Immortal World,

provides details about the complex world of

Immortal politics. The information it contains

can spell the difference between life and death for an

Immortal character. It also gives the Games Master

a framework upon which to build his own ﬁendishly

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