DM's Guide to Immortals: The Campaign

Low-level Immortal PCs are repairmen. They're sent to the Prime (and everywhere else) to tidy up flaws and errors. Prime Directive: don't change anything Good, just fix things. You're immune to mortal magic and can trash anything... so don't. (Lots of luck; the adventures should try your patience and push you to the edge of the chasm of Last Resort.) What kind of repairs? Occasional abuse of immortal power by the Entropics, Elemental leaks & plumbing repairs, accidental intrusion by Big Dumb Things (save Greyhawk from a giant amoeba?), etc etc. Run with it. Start with Prime Plane settings (lots of controls and Hierarch-level supervision of your actions) and then move on to outlandish weird Other-Planar stuff. There are a zillion planets on the Prime; easy to try some alternate-earth and/or alternate-Greyhawk stuff.

Try it in one-offs but keep your wits sharp and watch for serious Interest in any given setting. When something really works, develop further and think campaign...

But here's the tough part. You can escalate the Maturity level of the game to problem-solving and negotiation and diplomacy, and that CAN be a lot of fun... but sometimes it's like the cartoon about vultures: "Patience my ass, I wanna KILL something!" So you need to build in some Release, some blow-off-steam... not as the Focus of the adventure but definitely there for the players to revert to oldstyle pre-immortal style. Have a good fight and then back to the core of the adventure.

Frank Mentzer, from Dragonsfoot (August 11, 2010)

Goals of the Immortals:

A single overall goal applies to all Immortal activities - the preservation of the Immortals themselves, and of their position of power in the multiverse.  All Immortals (including those of Entropy) strive for three lesser goals that contribute to this greater one, and work to further these goals in their own ways.  The following goals are listed in order of priority:

1. To maintain the existence and integrity of the Prime Plane and the creatures within it who, through their achievements, replenish the ranks of the Immortals.

2. To assist, protect, and develop the Sphere that one serves and other individuals, mortal or Immortal, who serve the same Sphere.

3. To explore and develop the multiverse

Existing Identities:

Many creatures around the world, human, demi-human, and monster, are actually Immortals.  Some are avatars, but most are Immortals who are responsible to maintain in long-term positions as observers of the Prime Plane and history.

The identities of these beings, the various details of their "natural" lives within society, usually belonged to true mortal beings who died.  Immortals call these characters Identities.

A single Identity may be used by many different Immortals over a period of time.  When one Immortal holds a long-term observer position, he or she may take a break by lending it to another for a special project, who returns it when the task is done.

By using an appropriate Identity, an Immortal may take the form of any character type of any level.  This is very helpful when most of the players have mortal characters, and one or two have Immortals but want to play in the same game. 

If handled properly, the other players may not even know that an Immortal is present!

Illustration by Terry Dykstra, from Wrath of the Immortals, Book One: Codex of the Immortals (1992)

Games With Both Mortals and Immortals:

Immortal activities on the Inner Planes are of two distinct types, Observation and Control.  An Observer's task is to gather information, avoiding interference.  A Controller's task is to cause specific changes through direct (though usually subtle) actions.

An Observer's task may be to study a given area, person, race, item, or some other topic, either broad or specific.  The Observer is usually required to assume a mortal form for the duration of the task.

Using the information they gain through observers, the Immortals take action to reach their goals.  Whenever such actions are best accomplished by a leader of men, or by some other creature that greatly influences the fate of human- or demi-humankind, those in the key positions who influence leaders are called Controllers.

Of special note here is the use of monster Identities, which are commonly used when the Immortals wish to present an adventurer or party with a specific and dangerous challenge.  This is actually a common practice when dealing with mortals who aspire to Immortality.  An Immortal, possibly even the mortal's sponsor, plays the role of a monster to be defeated.

An Immortal character's first experience with Observing is always carefully Observed by other Immortals.  Two or more members of the mortal party will thus be Immortals using Identities.  Other creatures and NPCs encountered during the adventure may also be Immortals.

Games for Immortals Only:

Explorations are common in the Prime, Ethereal, Astral, and Outer Planes.  No exploration of the Elemental Planes is needed, since those bounded planes hold few secrets.  They are entirely known and controlled by their respective Elemasters and elemental rulers.

Another type of game common to both mortal and Immortal play is the investigation.  Characters are asked to find more information about a specific situation, and usually to solve any problem presented thereby.

Many of the scenarios presented in the D&D Basic Set are again applicable, but on a much grander scale:

1. Investigate an Enemy Outpost

Beings hostile to the Immortals themselves could threaten the hierarchy, and may have an outpost hidden in the Astral or some Outer Plane.  Beings hostile to the human race, possibly from a distant galaxy, could begin to encroach on the home system.

2. Recover Ruins

Ancient remains, possibly of the Old Ones but definitely predating the Immortals, could be discovered anywhere.  A newly explored Outer Plane might require development and cleansing before use by the Immortals.

3. Destroy an Ancient Evil

Similar to the situation of an enemy outpost, this could involve a single creature or small group.  It may simply be a project of one or more Immortals of Entropy.

4. Fulfill a Quest

One or more Immortal PCs may be required to recover a valuable object or person, or perform some other service for a higher level Immortal.

5. Escape from Enemies

Immortals are very difficult creatures to trap, but it is possible.  At the start of the game, some item or creature (such as a brain collector) may have already captured the PCs, and they must find a way to escape.

6. Rescue Prisoners

Important mortals may be imprisoned in a way that defeats all mortal attempts at rescue.  The Immortals may decide to get involved.  Immortals may be trapped without means of escape (see 5.), and may require rescue.  Characters may be asked to find an Immortal who was lost in the Dimensional Vortex.

7. Find a Lost Race

In the course of general exploration, the characters may find a new race of creatures.  This type of game can be very challenging, as PCs must learn about the new race and decide how to handle them.  Are they a potential threat?  Should they be ignored or destroyed?  Or are they potential Immortals, to be protected at all costs?

DM's Guide to Immortals: Home World and System

The BECMI home world is modeled after our own planet, roughly 135 million years ago.  The land masses depicted on the map of the Known World in the Master DMs book are based on the supercontinent of Pangea, once it started to break apart.*

*see also this post on Thorfinn Tait's blog

Earth during the Late Jurassic

This permits us to assume a 24 hour day (although days were actually 23 hours long in the Late Jurassic, resulting in closer to 381 days per year), four seasons in temperate regions, and 12 months per year, based on the 12 phases of a single moon.

Although the planet was envisioned as a predecessor to our own, during a bygone "Age of Magic", this results in obvious discrepancies.  It might instead be considered a parallel world, located in an alternate reality.

Similarities to our own world, including names from ancient myths for various Immortals and specific cultures, could be explained by a magical connection with our own world's ancient past.

Home System:

The star and other bodies of the solar system containing the PCs homeworld are similar to that with which we are familiar, with a few exceptions:

A planet named Damocles orbits the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.  Damocles is fated to be destroyed, creating the asteroid belt, the planets Mercury and Pluto, and the retrograde moons of Jupiter and other planets.

Beyond the orbit of Neptune, lies another planet, slightly larger than Mars, named Charon.

The Milky Way:

The stars closest to man's are Alpha Centauri (4.3 LY), Sirius (8.6 LY), Epsilon Eridani (10.7 LY), Procyon (11 LY), 61 Cygni (11.1 LY), Tau Ceti (11.2 LY), and Altair (15.7 LY).

The closest civilization able to use magic (counting only those outside the home system of humanity) is on several planets orbiting Epsilon Eridani.

DM's Guide to Immortals: The Multiverse

The physical characteristics of the Multiverse were introduced in the Companion Set rules, in which the Ethereal and Elemental Planes were described.

The Immortals rules provide information on the Astral and Outer Planes, as well as Dimensions.

Planes of Existence:

In game terms, a "plane of existence" (or simply Plane) refers to an area seen by mortal beings as a three-dimensional volume of unmeasurable size.

The Ethereal touches the Prime at all points.  The Prime and Elemental planes are connected by tubes that reach through the Ether, forming a branching network very similar to the roots of a tree.

The Prime, Ether, and the four Elemental Planes are collectively called the Inner Planes.  The Inner Planes are surrounded by the Astral Plane, which is connected to the Elemental and Ethereal Planes but not to the Prime.

Far beyond the Inner Planes, across the vast "astral ocean" are other planes of existence, the homes of the Immortals and other beings.  These other planes are called the Outer Planes.

From a viewpoint in the Astral Plane, the boundary of most Outer Planes appear as a silvery surface.  The size of this boundary bears no relation to the size of the plane within it.  The boundary only indicates the amount of the plane which is adjacent to the Astral Plane.

Examination of the boundary of an Outer plane with magical aid, such as detect invisible, reveals a slight tint to the silvery color.  This color reveals the Sphere which is dominant in the plane: pink for Energy, tan for Matter, light blue for Thought, light green for Time, and gray for Entropy.

When multiple Spheres are present in perfect balance, a spectrum of colors can be observed.  If a powerful magical aid (such as truesight) is used, some small part of the actual interior of the plane can also be examined, to the range limit of the effect employed.

Dimensions:

The first dimension measures length or distance between two points, and thus has a beginning and an end.  The second dimension measures breadth and direction of the object in the first dimension.  The third dimension measures volume or magnitude or size of an object.  The fourth dimension defines the relation between two objects, finding all points of similarity, or convergence.  And finally, the fifth dimension measures the unique nature or essence of an object in relation to all others, or divergence.

A mortal can perceive only three dimensions at once.  An Immortal can perceive four dimensions at once - but four only.  The fifth dimension is referred to by mortals as the Dimension of Nightmares.  There are life forms who consider the five dimensions in a way exactly opposite to the mortal view.  Similar to mortals, they perceive and accept a three-dimensional world, but the dimensions that normal mortals call the fifth, fourth, and third, these beings perceive as their first, second, and third.

Within the Astral Plane, a mortal perceives the second, third, and fourth dimensions, and lacks the ability to see the first.  (The Nightmare creatures are just the opposite, lacking the ability to see the fifth dimension.)  A human sees himself as a flat, two-dimensional thing, unable to see one of his natural dimensions.  Since Immortals are four-dimensional beings, mortals who encounter them on the Astral Plane see them as solid, three-dimensional creatures.

The change in dimensional perspective causes all things on the Astral Plane to appear outlined in a sparkling, shimmering substance.  No such substance actually exists; the effect is merely illusory, a matter of perception.

Effect on Magic:

The magical strength of any enchanted item on the Astral Plane is reduced by one; for example, a sword +4 is treated as a sword +3 in all respects while on the Astral Plane.  Any item of +1 enchantment is effectively non-magical.  The magic is still there, not dispelled or suppressed, but has no effect.

Spells of mortal origin may produce effects different from their standard forms, which can be logically deduced by the shift in dimensional perspective.  For example, a fire ball spell cast by a mortal adventurer would create a perfectly thin disc-like explosion.  Potential victims might not be damaged even when very near the center of the explosion.

A teleport or dimension door effect opens a pathway across the fourth dimension, allowing the user to bypass the first three dimensions and apparently cross any amount of space in very little time.  However, this has little effect while the user is on the Astral Plane, as that dimension is now one of the three "normal" ones.

On the Astral Plane, a standard teleport effect (including teleport object) merely allows three-dimensional flight, as the fly spell description.  A dimension door effect also enables flight, but at half the speed given.  A magical fly effect only enables levitation (slow two-dimensional movement), and a levitate is useless.

The Secret of the Multiverse:

The multiverse was created by the Old Ones; beings to whom even the power of the Immortals is but a drop in an ocean.  Just as Immortals await and desire the appearance of exceptional mortals, so do the Old Ones watch and wait for the greatest and best of all the Immortals.

Withdrawing themselves into the sixth and higher dimensions, the Old Ones created a type of wall between themselves and the rest of existence. Whenever an Immortal tries to pass beyond the first five dimensions, he or she enters a special realm, a whirlpool of infinite size, made of a watery form of ether.  This swirling chaos is called the Dimensional Vortex.

Approximately one Immortal per 10,000 reaches Full Hierarch status.  A few - perhaps one of each hundred or two - chose to prove their ultimate superiority, on the remote chance that some greater power might be watching.  They dispersed their life essences into their Home Planes, and reincarnated themselves as mere mortal humans once again.

Only a handful both desired and reached Immortal status a second time.  And of these, only a few reached Hierarch status a second time.  And finally, of these few, only two dared once again to seek more.  They saw the coming of the blackballs as their punishment and final destruction, but unbeknownst to all, they passed beyond the barrier, and exist now with the Old Ones.

The Immortals rules do not describe the Old Ones, for their powers transcend the framework of any mere game.  If any player character succeeds in the great journey, not merely achieving Hierarch status but proving his or her superiority by doing it twice - well, no higher goal can be attained, and no reward is too great.  The player wins the game and his character vanishes.

*            *            *

The Immortals set was supposed to finish the D&D rules. It thus had to cap off the game in some way. But it wasn't cool for me to write about God (uppercase) or reality or anything like that, so you got mythology & gods (lowercase, ie immortals) and all that.

The whole bit about going through existence twice was an afterthought. But after being a DM for ages, I knew that SOME rules lawyer would ask "what's next?", so there it is.

Immortals are hard enough to understand and play. The Old Ones are so incomprehensible as to transcend the game entirely. If you really insist, you can try to devise a rules set and adventure scenarios for Old Ones. But you'll almost certainly be underestimating them (by definition) and trivializing their existence. (Wherever the Old Ones are, and whatever they do, I'm sure it involves a Place involving Hahn-Banach and compound Hilbert spaces. If you wanna pursue this, start by grasping those nettles firmly and acquire a perspective from which they seem trivial.)

Frank Mentzer, from Dragonsfoot (February 29, 2008)

Players' Guide to Immortals: The Home Plane

An Initiate cannot select a Home Plane; one is assigned by the Hierarch of the character's Sphere.  Each of these planes is nearly identical, to give each Immortal a fair chance to compete on an equal basis with the other Immortals of the hierarchy.

It should be difficult for any Immortal to get into another's home plane.

And it should be impossible for mortals.

Essentially, to enter someone's home plane you need the owner's permission. Failing that, you need to (a) be superior to the owner in the same sphere, and (b) force the penetration via Power use. The latter procedure we'll pass on, for now...

Frank Mentzer, on Dragonsfoot (February 2, 2011)

Starting Details:

Most of the plane is vacuum, containing only occasional bits of extremely small elemental material.  Floating here and there within this vast empty space are 2-5 stars, with a total of 16-20 planets in orbit around them.  Any and all planets and stars may already support life forms of various sorts when the plane is first adopted by the Initiate character.

Development:

A gate to an Elemental Plane may be opened, if permission in advance is given by both the elemental ruler and the Elemaster involved.  Elemental material of any kind can thus be added to the plane.

A character who tires of Immortality may confer great bonuses to the Home Plane by Dispersion.  With this action, the Immortal bestows all of his or her Power to the plane, gaining greater effects than through normal permanent expenditure.  Upon Dispersing, the character's life essence may either retire to some point within the plane, immune to all outside effects (but unable to act in any way), or may choose to begin the great cycle of life once again as a mortal creature.

If the second option is chosen, the character is reborn on the Prime Plane as a normal mortal, with no memory of his or her previous life.  However, if that character ever regains Immortal status (following the long route of a complete and successful mortal life and thereafter meeting the standard requirements for Immortality), the character's memory of the previous life returns, and the character gains the old, already improved Home Plane instead of a new, undeveloped one.

Effects:

While on his or her Home Plane, an Immortal is immune to all attacks of mortal origin.  By expending Power Points, the Immortal may control certain characteristics of the entire plane.  Home Planes may be handled in as much or as little detail as Dominions of mortal characters. 

Illustration by Jeff Easley

Material Forms:

To assume a material form, an Immortal normally uses a three-step process of planning, creating, and then inhabiting the form.  All forms have their limits, but most have benefits as well.  Immortals usually design forms that have the widest range of available actions and responses as possible.  They usually prefer forms that can blend well into a local population, aiding subtle operations.

The Immortal's current totals of hit points, Power Points, and mental ability scores are not changed when a form is assumed.  The Immortal's innate A-M also applies to the form.  Only in physical form can an Immortal create and use spell-like effects.  The physical form acts as a focus for creating effects in the material world.

Creating a Form:

All Immortals can create two basic forms, called the Original and the Standard forms.  A third form, usually imitating that of one monster type (called the Creature form), is also common.  Other forms may also be designed and used.

Every Immortal is taught how to create a standard form while an Initiate.  This form appears very similar to the character's original mortal form, with the same number and type of general parts (head, torso, etc.) and of the same size, but with far greater durability.

The Plane of Existence in which an Immortal spent most of his or her mortal life is called the character's Native Plane.  Whenever an Immortal returns to his or her Native Plane, the character's material form instantly and automatically changes to the original mortal one.  In most cases (such as all humans and demihumans), the native plane is the Prime Plane.

Generally, immortals don't perish. Their forms may, and often do, but their essences return to their Home Planes, and all is well. Not great, and the beginning of a resource management period; recover what you lost and rebuild. Time is a factor but not a limit.

Alas, I didn't have the space to elaborate on Home Planes (aka Homes), their construction & design, and defense aspects -- the latter topic being integral to the core premise above.

The Power cost of entering an immortal's Home without heerits permission is a variable to be decided, and is of supreme importance. The amount is left to the DM in selecting a tone for the campaign.

If Homes are easy to break into, the resulting chaos will involve confrontations and extermination (echoing perhaps Odin & co?). As the level of Home security rises, the level of chaos ebbs. Entropy of course would favor chaos...

The other end of this scale, unbreakable Homes, shifts the attack to a more personal one, for if the immortal's favor can be obtained, one may enter heerits Home by invitation, to later attack from within. The importance of Loyalty and Family escalates rapidly.

I favor a level of 25-50 thousand PP. Penetration requires hordes of friends, or some very powerful ones in a cabal of a dozen or two. And once you're in, you still have to deal with the resident on the most unfavorable terms possible (still varying by Spheres). Be sure you have the right allies... and that they won't switch sides midfield hehe.

Frank Mentzer, on Dragonsfoot (November 17, 2014)

Avatars:

An Immortal may choose to inhabit a form with only part of his or her life force, instead of all of it.  The standard procedures and costs for planning, creating, and inhabiting the form must be applied.  Such a form, containing only part of the Immortal's life force, is called an avatar.  The form containing the bulk of the Immortal's life force is then called the primary.

When an avatar is slain, its life force does not become incorporeal.  It is not an actual independent life force.  Its power and hp return to the primary life force.  All avatars are constantly and fully aware of each other, even if on different planes of existence.

Artifacts:

Immortal PCs may create artifacts.  An Immortal may only create an Artifact while on his or her Home Plane.  The PP expenditure for creating an artifact is a permanent one.  Magical effects produced by Artifacts have Immortal power, and can affect all life forms.

Players' Guide to Immortals: Character Advancement

A character's progress is measured by his or her Power Point (PP) total.  Levels of experience were used to describe mortal progress, and also apply to Immortals.  But in addition, an Immortal reaches a limit after a series of level gains.

The character can then progress further only after meeting certain additional requirements and passing a test.  Each grouping of levels, representing the period from one such limit to the next, is called the Immortal's rank.  Level and rank gains are not handled in the same manner.

I mocked up an AD&D 1e type version of the Immortals Rank Advancement Chart:

Adapted from the Immortals Rank Advancement Chart (Players' Guide to Immortals, pg. 29)

Level Advancement:

Level advancement is automatic upon reaching the PP totals given for each.  The reverse process is also automatic; permanent PP expenditures may cause a loss of one or more levels within a rank.

Fifth level is the upper limit within each rank.  Progression from there to the next rank is impossible until a certain procedure is completed.  Until that time, the character's PP total cannot exceed the amount given for fifth level.  Power in excess of this amount is immediately discarded if earned.

Rank Advancement:

An Immortal must satisfy two specific requirements to become eligible for rank advancement.  The first is a given amount of Power Points, listed above.  The second requirement is that each of the three scores comprising the Immortal’s Greater Talent must be at the maximum for the character's rank.

An Immortal can only rise to a new rank by defeating one or more peers in a competition for the honor.  This game, carefully designed by the Eternals to be a fair and well-rounded test of the abilities of all applicants, held publicly and enjoyed by all observers, is part of a series of games called an Olympics.

Each Sphere holds its own Olympic games, held at regular intervals determined by the Hierarch or Eternals of each Sphere.  The games are watched by most of the Immortals of the Sphere.  When a competitor's hit points reach zero, that Immortal's material form is slain.

The life force automatically returns to the Immortal's home plane.  Most defeated competitors immediately assume a new form and join the spectators.  When the number of remaining competitors equals the number of vacancies, the event ends.