Midnight - Steel And Shadow.pdf - Midnight - R5700

Credits

W RITING

I AIN J. B ROGAN , E RIC O LSON , W IL U PCHURCH

O RIGINAL C AMPAIGN C REATION AND D EVELOPMENT

G REG B ENAGE

L EAD D EVELOPER

R OBERT V AUGHN

E DITING , L AYOUT , AND A DDITIONAL W RITING

R OBERT V AUGHN

C OVER I LLUSTRATION

P ATRICK M C E VOY

I NTERIOR I LLUSTRATIONS

I LYA A STRAKHAN , S TEVEN B AGATZKY , Z AK H ENESSEY , T RAVIS M OORE , J ARREAU W IMBERLY

C ARTOGRAPHY

E D B OURELLE

G RAPHIC D ESIGN

B RIAN S CHOMBURG

A RT D IRECTION

D ARRELL H ARDY , R OBERT V AUGHN

C HIEF P RODUCT O FFICER

G REG B ENAGE

P UBLISHER

C HRISTIAN T. P ETERSEN

‘d20 System’ and the d20 System logo are Trademarks owned

by Wizards of the Coast and are used with permission.

Designation of Open Game Content: Steel and 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 general, 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 M IDNIGHT name, logo, and trademark, the graphic

design and trade dress of this book and all other products in the

M IDNIGHT line, all graphics, illustrations, maps, and diagrams in this

book, and the following names and terms: Eredane, Izrador, Shadow

in the North, and Night King.

Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are

Registered Trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and are used

with permission.

both are TM Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.

FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES

1975 County Rd. B2 #1

Roseville, MN 55113

www.fantasyflightgames.com

Contents

Introduction

Warrior Magic 23

Totem Heads 23

Warrior’s Sacrifice 24

Covenant Items 25

Chapter Three: Tested in Battle 27

Prestige Classes 27

Banisher 27

Cendaran Cultist 29

Dire Blade 31

Durgis Battlerager 33

Insurgent Commander 34

Pirate of Eredane 37

Quickjack 39

Sylvan Slayer 41

Tunnel Wraith 43

Warrior of Dark Blood 45

Chapter Four: Held in Hope 48

Variant Terrain Rules 48

Variant 1: Regional Synergy 48

Variant 2: Regional Familiarity 48

Variant 3: Regional Superiority 49

Regional Superiority Effects by Hazard 49

Terrain Movement, Stealth, Detection 53

Battlegrounds

The Sword Shatters

The Sword Reforged

Chapter One: Forged in Pain

Cultural Training

Dwarven Training

Elven Training

Halfling and Elfling Training

Human Training

Gnome and Dwarrow Training

Orc and Dworg Training

Feats

Cultural Fighting Techniques

Human Techniques

Dwarven Techniques

Elven Techniques

Gnome Techniques

Halfling Techniques

Orc Techniques

Chapter Two: Honed in Spirit

Heroic Paths

Dwarven Champion

Elven Champion

Gnome Champion

Halfling Champion

The Stromsker

Human Champion

Uthurstor

Orc Champion

White Cliff

How To Use This Book

Steel and Shadow is a collection of resources for M IDNIGHT players and GMs who want to focus on battle in

their campaigns, whether it’s using prestige classes to specialize in a certain style of fighting or using terrain to stage

larger-scale battles in which knowledge of the lay of the land can tip the balance. Scattered throughout are sidebars

and setting information that can be used for character backgrounds by players or for story hooks and adventure seeds

by GMs. Keep in mind that not of all the setting information here is confirmed, and just because you as a player know

about a group doesn’t mean your character knows about it. While you may assign your abilities and choose your

feats based on the goal of eventually becoming a Cendaran cultist or one of the Twilight Riders, that doesn’t mean

that your character necessarily knows about the group and is planning on becoming one of them.

Likewise, the optional rules and setting information included herein are just that: optional. Formal training and

the official military academies of Eredane have long since been rooted out by Izrador, so warriors must learn their

dangerous trade firsthand. The same is true for anything you read here; unless your GM includes it in the game and

you see it firsthand, it is only a rumor or a possibility.

Some feats and abilities from other M IDNIGHT supplements are referenced in this book. “AtS” stands for

Against the Shadow, while “M2E” stands for M IDNIGHT 2 ND E DITION .

INTRODUCTION

The Hope of Steel

warriors in the bloody and merciless world of

M IDNIGHT . While particularly appropriate for

fighters, barbarians, and wildlanders, the material here-

in is useful for any characters that wish to strike against

the Shadow.

The dark lord Izrador has ruled Eredane for the

past 100 years, his savage orcs having conquered the

once free races. To retain power, the Shadow in the

North has outlawed anything that might prove danger-

ous to him. All magic but that granted by Izrador was

outlawed. Writing and the very existence of literacy

were stomped out. And perhaps worst of all for the peo-

ples of Eredane, many of whose traditions hold strength

in arms to be a valued trait, it has become illegal to bear,

train with, or make use of weapons. With neither arms

nor armor, the dark god believes that those who would

oppose the forces of evil will be rendered helpless.

But steel lies not only the heads of axes and the

blades of swords. The minds of the elves and Sarcosans

are keen and razor-sharp. The wills of the Dorns and

dwarves are as unyielding as any metal. And the hearts

of the halflings, gnomes, and Erenlanders gleam with a

light of hope that will not die, no matter that they are

drenched in blood and notched by war.

So long as the once free people of Eredane con-

tinue to strive against their foe and take pride in their

warrior traditions, there will remain soldiers to fight this

war. Swords and axes are not the only weapons that can

hurt the enemy.

peace across the broad expanse of Eredane. Standing

armies in their tens of thousands, hosts of Dornish clans-

men, Sarcosan cavalry, and skilled and honorable mer-

cenary companies roamed the Northlands matching

their strength and skill against the darkness from the

north and never breaking. Even in the last years before

the fall of the Fortress Wall, remnants of this great army

defended the north and paid a heavy price in blood to

delay the inevitable onset of the long night.

Supporting such an army required vast resources

of food, arms, and fresh strong arms to wield steel

swords and mighty axes. Each city had training grounds

and muster points set aside for their warriors. In the

north, Dornish clansmen trained with their greatswords

as soon as they had the strength to heft them. Along the

Pellurian Sea, infantry companies schooled fresh

cohorts as the first signs of beards touched their faces,

training them to fight in formation and work alongside

the fearsome might of the Sarcosan cavalry. In the south,

riding was a way of life and grand tournaments were

held to test warriors’ skills. The vast needs of the king-

dom’s army ensured that most villages had at least one

person who had survived the rigors of the wall and the

hard lessons it taught. These veterans were the core of

local militias that provided protection against orc and

goblinoid raiders and the monsters that roamed the wild.

The Center Will Not Hold

The Kingdom of Erenland was both held together

and destroyed by the never-ending requirements of the

Fortress Wall. The savage losses of the Second and

beginning of the Third Age ripped the heart out of

Erenland. Generations of soldiers went to their death

along the wall. Demands for fresh troops and the money

to pay them were too much for the kingdom to bear.

Calls for greater contributions from the Erenlander and

Sarcosan lords went unheeded and the High King’s

inability to force his nobles to comply started the king-

dom’s decline.

The Sword

is Shattered

Before the shattering of the Kingdom of Erenland

and the onset of almost a century of darkness, proud

human armies defended the Fortress Wall and kept the

Introduction

W elcome to Steel and Shadow, a supplement for

Second Age. The mines and clanhold rang with the clash

of steel and the bestial warcries of the foul spawn of the

pits from beneath the Vale of Tears. For centuries the

northern clans held their fortresses in the Icewall

Mountains, providing a bulwark for the rest of the dwar-

ven race. Heavily armored dwarven warriors stood

shoulder to shoulder, wielding the finest weapons in

Eredane, making the orcs spend lives in the hundreds in

a futile attempt to breach citadels built into the very

bones of the great mountains.

Unlike their human neighbors, however, the

dwarves had no high king to direct the war against the

Shadow. The great dwarven clans trained their own war-

riors in the fighting styles and weapons of their forefa-

thers. The clans fought with those allied with them

through ancient ties of blood. When corruption and

betrayal weakened the Icewall fortresses, there was no

army ready to fill the void and the orcs were free to flow

into the northern Kaladruns. The dwarves were forced to

retreat into their clanholds to fight, and ultimately die,

one clan at a time.

In the last years of the Third Age, the military

schools and the tradition of service to the crown waned.

The responsibility for training new soldiers fell more on

local commanders and less on the infantry and cavalry

schools that had stood for centuries. Regional quotas for

troops, especially from the southern cities, were filled

with mercenaries and those too poor to escape service.

Troop quality declined and Erenland’s military forces

were stretched too thin to allow the new soldiers the

time they needed to train. The halls of the great military

schools echoed due to lack of recruits or were aban-

doned entirely. Whether through treachery, inability, or

negligence, the rich martial traditions of Erenland were

fading at a time when they were most needed. When the

Shadow finally unleashed his horde, the defenders were

too few in number and too poorly trained to save the

kingdom.

The Forests of Light

In Erethor, the oldest kingdom of Eredane still

stood proud and strong. The elves were masters of bow

and blade, both wielded with almost supernatural skill.

Warriors in their thousands were trained and led by

Erunsil generals with over a century of experience fight-

ing the orcs in the Coldest Wood. Specialized schools of

infiltration, assassination, and the delicate merger of

magic and strength of arms flourished, producing war-

riors without peer. Using the Old Ways and the strength

of fortresses like Silverthorn as their bases, the elves

were able to move troops rapidly across the north,

crushing every orc incursion.

The Witch Queen saw the weakening of the

Kingdom of Erenland and watched powerlessly as it

slowly declined. The fate of Erethor was tied to the

human kingdom; without the doughty human warriors

to guard their flank, the elves would not be able to

match Izrador’s hordes. Thousands of elves died trying

to save the human High King. With the kingdom’s fall,

the elves were forced to spread their forces dangerously

thin and take terrible risks as they moved armies to face

each new threat. Whereas elven warriors had previously

had decades to hone their skills, losses forced the young

and inexperienced forward to a front line that had a

voracious hunger for lives.

The Stones of the Ancients

In the northern Kaladruns, the dwarves never fal-

tered in their unrelenting war against the Odredor, the

chosen of Izrador. Their honor and their ancestors

demanded nothing less. The many caves and crags of

the mountain range offered the easiest point of infiltra-

tion for orc scouts and raiders, and the dwarves alone

stood to stem that tide after the Shadow’s armies were

driven back north of the Fortress Wall at the end of the

The Rivers and Fields

The gnomes and halflings had long existed under

the protection of their more populous and powerful

neighbors. The gnomes plied the great rivers and were

skilled only at protecting their barges from bandits and

the dangers that lurked near and in the rivers. The

Introduction

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