Midnight Legends of Shadow.pdf

Legends of Shadow

Credits

L EAD D EVELOPER

R OBERT V AUGHN

A RT D IRECTION

R OBERT V AUGHN

G RAPHIC D ESIGN

A NDREW N AVARO

W RITING

G ARY A STLEFORD , G REG M ARKS ,

R OBERT S CHWALB

C OVER I LLUSTRATION

J OHN G R AVAT O

L AYOUT

R OBERT V AUGHN

I NTERIOR I LLUSTRATION

D AV E K ENDALL , P ATRICK M C E VOY , T ED

P ENDERGRAFT , C HRISTOPHE S WA L , C YRIL

V AN DER H AEGEN , J ARREAU W IMBERLY

E XECUTIVE D EVELOPER

G REG B ENAGE

E DITING

J AMES T ORR , R OBERT V AUGHN

P UBLISHER

C HRISTIAN T. P ETERSEN

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Design Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Epic Player Characters . . . . . . .2

Epic Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Developing Epic Spells . . . . .3

Casting Epic Spells . . . . . . . .3

Creating Night Kings . . . . . . . .3

Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Alvedara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Theros Obsidia . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Knowledge & Contacts . . . . . . .21

Allies & Enemies . . . . . . . . . . .22

Sunulael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

The Order of Shadow . . . . . . .22

Orc Armies . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Traitor Princes . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Chapter 4: Wrath of Shadow

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Activities & Goals . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Watcher of the Black Tower . . .39

Bane of Erethor . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Personal Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Knowledge & Contacts . . . . . . .41

Allies & Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Ardherin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Arynix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

The Witch Queen . . . . . . . . . . .43

Xircxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Chapter 1: Sorcerer of Shadow

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Activities & Goals . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Master of the Shadowspawn . . .6

Master of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Personal Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Arydian Avielehrius . . . . . . . .8

Theros Obsidia . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Knowledge and Contacts . . . . . .9

Allies & Enemies . . . . . . . . . . .10

The Night Kings . . . . . . . . . .10

The Witch Queen . . . . . . . . .11

Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Chapter 3: Priest of Shadow

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Activities & Goals . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Spreading the Word of Izrador .29

Training New Legates . . . . . . . .29

Creating Undead . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Personal Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Cambrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Theros Obsidia . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Knowledge & Contacts . . . . . . .33

Allies & Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Ardherin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Jahzir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

The Cabal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

The Devout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Chapter 5: The Witch Queen

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Activities & Goals . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Building Alliances . . . . . . . . . . .53

Fighting the War . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Personal Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Strongholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Knowledge & Contacts . . . . . . .58

Allies & Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Ardherin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Zardrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

The Elder Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Chapter 2: Sword of Shadow

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Activities & Goals . . . . . . . . . . . .17

King of a Conquered Land . . . .17

Against the Fey . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Personal Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

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Introduction

M IDNIGHT is a world in which courageous heroes brave

impossible odds for the slightest glimmer of hope. The forces

of evil seek to thwart them at every turn in the form of rav-

aging beasts, calculating legates, or mysterious spirits. The

players must wend their way through a maze of danger and

betrayal, all while avoiding the most deadly foe of all:

despair. After months, years, even decades of hiding and

fighting, however, even the most cautious of rebels must

eventually ask: Who or what is directing these forces, and can

it be destroyed?

There are as many answers as there are M IDNIGHT cam-

paigns. In some games, the players will have been doomed

from the start, fighting nothing more than a holding action. In

others, the specter of doom and entropy that is Izrador may

have a weakness, a flaw that the heroes can exploit and some-

day overcome. Most campaigns will lie somewhere in

between, however, with the defeat of the god himself being

unreachable, but the possibility of some salvation, some

hope, always remaining. Perhaps the players cannot stop

Izrador, cannot utterly save their land. But they can slow him

down, perhaps hurt him. Eventually, if they become powerful

enough to be perceived as a major threat, or if they want to

inflict lasting damage, they will come face to face with one of

his elite lieutenants, one of the quasi-gods that lead his forces.

The Night Kings.

Design Notes

Some of the NPCs in this book make use of the epic level

rules from the d20 System SRD. Having those rules is not

essential to use this book, however. GMs who prefer working

within the framework of the base d20 System can easily do

so, replacing epic feats and spells with other powers as they

feel appropriate.

Epic Player Characters

Characters who achieve epic levels in M IDNIGHT are a

special case. They should not be able to continue to exist for

very long beyond 20th level without facing a major conflict.

They are sure to be damaging enough to Izrador’s cause that

they will have to face one of the Night Kings unless they want

to hide in Caradul for the rest of their careers. While the per-

manent destruction of one of those four beings is quite diffi-

cult to achieve, each can be permanently weakened and dis-

credited, or their resources destroyed. Dying at the hands of

one of the Night Kings after having crippled or weakened

him is a noble and worthy death indeed, and can be accom-

plished even by clever and capable parties of 20th level and

lower.

The Epic Level Classes section of the SRD provides the

rules necessary for the core classes, like barbarian, fighter,

and rogue. M IDNIGHT -specific classes can be extrapolated

beyond 20th level using the rules presented in the SRD under

Epic Level Basics . For instance, if a defender’s AC bonus

improves by +1 every two levels, it continues to do so at the

same rate; likewise, since he gains a choice between incredi-

ble speed or incredible resilience at 6th level and every three

levels thereafter, he gains that ability again at 21st level and

every three levels thereafter.

The same goes for channelers and wildlanders. However,

in contrast to SRD spellcasting classes, which do not gain

extra spells per day for levels beyond 20th, channelers con-

tinue to gain spell energy for each level beyond 20th.

How to Use this Book

For campaigns in which the players reach an appropriate

level of power to face them, this book finally gives game

mechanics values to those most terrifying of foes. It doesn’t

stop there, however. Legends of Shadow is useful for any

campaign as a sourcebook. It provides rich detail and intrigue

with which a GM may flesh out the backdrop of his world,

adding a complex foundation that operates beneath and

responds to the players’ actions. Even the humblest of begin-

ning adventurers may unknowingly find themselves tangled

up in the plots of one of Izrador’s lieutenants from their first

rebellious act. Few have the skill or luck to survive long

enough to pose a true threat to such a nemesis, but for those

who eventually come face to face with one of the Night

Kings, the knowledge that the meeting has been fated from

the start can make the experience that much more rewarding.

Yet no shadow can be cast without light, and the world

would long ago have fallen to the Night Kings if they were

unbeatable. Across all of Eredane, one being is powerful

enough to answer the Night Kings and counter their plans

outright. One being is feared by them, both singly and as a

group. She is Aradil, Witch Queen of Erethor, and she is a

goddess within her kingdom. The players may become her

allies, her minions, or even become part of her as one of her

avatars.

Epic Spells

Unlike normal spells, epic spells cannot simply be

learned and used at whim. They break the very rules of

magic, rules which are already significantly altered from the

norm by Aryth’s unique magical weave and by the effects of

the Sundering.

First of all, any spellcaster who wishes to use an epic

spell must first take the Epic Spellcasting feat as described in

the SRD. Second, he must develop each spell himself; even if

the spell has already been created and used by someone else

in the world, even if the spellcaster has watched it being cast,

Introduction

he must create a version of it himself in order to ever master

it and cast it. Third, ritual magic as described in Midnight 2nd

Edition cannot be used with epic spells. They are too power-

ful to alter “on the fly,” and if a spellcaster wishes assistance

in the casting of a spell, he must develop it using the “addi-

tional participants” rules in the Epic Spells section of the

SRD. Instead of contributing spell slots to ritual epic spells,

channelers contribute an amount of spell energy equal to the

spell slot they would otherwise have contributed.

Speed: Night Kings have double the speed of a normal

creature of their type.

Blessing of Izrador: Night Kings gain divine bonuses to

their Armor Class and saving throws equal to their Charisma

modifiers. Additionally, each Night King has a special power

granted to it by Izrador himself. The powers vary, but the base

effect always requires a DC 25 level check to perform; this

means that, the more powerful the creature that was trans-

formed into a Night King, the more powerful the effects it can

produce with its dark god’s blessing.

Damage Reduction: Night Kings are very resilient, hav-

ing DR 20 versus most weapons and effects.

Extraordinary Abilities: Most of the Night Kings’ abil-

ities, even those that would normally be considered supernat-

ural, are considered extraordinary. This is a design choice that

prevents a single spell, antimagic field , from completely crip-

pling such a major foe. The Night Kings’ powers come not

from some esoteric arcane science that can be easily negated,

but rather from a direct connection to a living god. When

developing a Night King or other epic character (such as

Aradil) in M IDNIGHT , all abilities other than spellcasting and

spell-like abilities should be labeled as extraordinary.

Immortality: Night Kings do not age and do not need to

eat, sleep, or breathe. Additionally, Night Kings are incredibly

difficult to permanently destroy, and either have regeneration

10 (if living) or rejuvenation after one day (if undead). Even

regenerating Night Kings suffer normal damage from at least

two sources, however, usually elements or spell descriptors.

Immunities and Resistances: In addition to the normal

immunities gained by their creature types, Night Kings gain

immunity to ability damage, ability drain, death from massive

damage, energy drain, mind-affecting effects, negative energy

effects, death effects, poison, polymorph effects, and petrifi-

cation effects. They are also immune to two elements and have

resistance 15 to a third element; the fourth element, to which

they are not immune, is often the same one that deals normal

damage against the Night King’s regeneration ability. Finally,

Night Kings have spell resistance equal to 11 + their HD.

Alignment: All Night Kings are thoroughly evil but, trag-

ically, were once good-aligned. It is possible that an essential

part of a Night King’s transformation and binding to Izrador,

and the heart of its power, is the corruption of a once-pure soul.

Developing Epic Spells

Developing epic spells in M IDNIGHT uses up no raw

materials; instead, they cost spell energy to develop, even for

non-channelers like legates, equal to their raw material devel-

opment cost divided by 100,000. The sheer volume of spell

energy required to accomplish this means that only spellcast-

ers with access to incredibly powerful arcane nexuses may

even consider developing epic spells.

Casting Epic Spells

The process of casting epic spells in M IDNIGHT is likewise

different than in other campaigns. All spellcasters, whether

channelers or non-channeler, arcane or divine, may only cast a

number of epic spells each day equal to their ranks in

Knowledge (arcana) divided by 10. Additionally, all spellcast-

ers must pay an amount of spell energy equal to an epic spell’s

Spellcraft DC whenever casting it. For channelers, this means

that they can rarely cast epic spells outside of an arcane nexus.

For non-channelers like Sunulael and Ardherin, this means that

they must find some way to collect spell energy for later use.

Finally, because permanent magical effects tend to

unravel on Aryth, epic spells or epic spell seeds with a dura-

tion of permanent instead have a duration of one year.

Creating Night Kings

Izrador’s Night Kings, for all their power, are not inde-

structable. It is conceivable that one or more of the Night Kings

in your campaign might be destroyed and replaced, either by

rival minions of Izrador or by the player characters themselves!

For this purpose, as well as to offer insight into the design

process used for the four current Night Kings, design notes on

the Night King creature subtype are provided below.

Unlike other d20 design aspects, the transformation of a

creature into a Night King is not simply a matter of applying

a template and calling it done. Each Night King has unique

powers and vulnerabilities, all of which are determined by a

combination of his previous form’s strengths and desires, as

modified by Izrador’s intentions for his new tool.

The Night Kings are very nearly gods among mortals,

and have several traits similar to rank 0 deities in the Divine

sections of the SRD, including the following:

Type: Only sentient creatures can be transformed into

Night Kings, as only they have souls that may be corrupted.

Hit Points: Night Kings receive maximum hit points for

each Hit Die.

Designation of Open Game Content

Legends of Shadow is published under the terms of the Open Game

License and the d20 System Trademark License. The OGL allows us to use

the d20 System core rules and to publish game products derived from and

compatible with those rules.

Not everything in this book is Open Game Content, however. In gener-

al, game rules and mechanics are Open Game Content, but all background,

story, and setting information, as well as the names of specific characters, are

closed content and cannot be republished, copied, or distributed without the

consent of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.

The following are designated as Product Identity pursuant to section

1(e) of the Open Game License, included in full at the end of this book: the

Midnight name, logo, and trademark, the graphic design and trade dress of

this book and all other products in the Midnight line, all graphics, illustra-

tions, maps, and diagrams in this book, and the following names and terms:

Eredane, Izrador, Shadow in the North, and Night King.

Introduction

CHAPTER 1

Sorcerer of Shadow

The Sorcerer of Shadow.

Bane of Erethor. Betrayer of the

Witch Queen. Ardherin is Izrador’s

master of the arcane, created by the

Shadow in the North to balance the magical

power of Aradil, the Witch Queen of Erethor.

Like the other Night Kings, he did not knowingly

seek out Izrador to join his cause; yet, like them, he cannot

be held blameless for his transformation.

The tale of Ardherin’s fall is known by few. Once a pow-

erful defender of Erethor, and indeed a consort of Aradil’s, he

was beloved by the elves. He was incredibly courageous, and

he had an intuitive ability to determine and make use of the

weaknesses of the demons and devils that Izrador sent to

plague the woodland fey. Yet he could not approach Aradil or

many of her council in terms of knowledge. So he sought to

learn as much as he could, and called upon spirits to supple-

ment what lore he had. He even became so desperate for infor-

mation and so confident in his powers that he captured and

kept a servant of the enemy: This was Vard, a supposedly

“lesser devil” who was destined to be Ardherin’s downfall.

Had Ardherin listened to the council of his peers, heeded

their warnings, he might yet defend the forest’s borders. They

told him that Vard was too dangerous to keep so near, would

mislead him or betray him. He took what precautions he could,

but he did not destroy Vard. Those who remember the Demon

Bane of Erethor would say that arrogance led to his downfall,

the belief that he could survive whatever betrayal Vard had in

store. What few realize, however, is that pride was not

Ardherin’s flaw. Nor was it anger, nor blind faith, nor desper-

ation, as was the case with his fellow Night Kings. What laid

Ardherin low was courage. The hero knew that his actions

could lead to his death, knew that Vard was likely to best

him… but he braved that danger, because he felt that it was

worth the risk to keep Erethor safe. What he could not realize

was that his survival would be a much worse fate than death,

both for himself and for those he loved.

The Fall of a Hero

The betrayal came in the form of a binding spell that the

devil taught him. When Ardherin performed it, hoping to trap

a pack of Izrador’s demon minions, the elf found that the spell

bound him instead. He was not slain, however, as most elves at

the mercy of demons would have been. Instead, he was taken

north, past the Northern Marches, past the Vale of Tears itself,

into a rent in the world know only as the Scar. There he became

the first elf to ever behold the fully manifested form of Izrador.

Had Ardherin not been such an exceptional channeler, not had

such a spirit of pure good, not been such a heroic warrior, this

tale would end here. His mind would have shattered in the face

of pure and absolute evil.

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