DARKRUNNERS IN THE WORLD
CHAPTER 9
THE ABERRATION HUNTER
explore underground, they might wish to secure the aid of a Although darkrunners are content to simply explore underdarkrunner as a guide. ground, those who belong to the guild (which accounts for Darkrunners are naturally much sought after as guides to over ninety percent of darkrunners) offer their services as various aberration outposts. A darkrunner NPC could easily guides to merchants, pilgrims, or adventurers who need to ally with adventurers or hire on with them to lead them to an traverse the gloomy underground regions of the world. They aboleth city or mind flayer stronghold. are also called upon to serve as mercenaries in armies that move through the deep earth. PCs might want to hire a darkrunner Adaptation for any of the above reasons, or they might encounter one alone If your campaign world doesn’t include a subterranean region, during an adventure. you can still use the darkrunner after you make a few adjustments. Simply pick an area of inhospitable terrain, such as a Organization swamp or a high mountain, and base the guild in this region. See the presentation of the Darkrunner Guild, page 218. You can even have the darkrunners serve as a highly specialized guild within the confines of a particularly large city. In NPC Reactions this case, the guild would function more like a thieves guild, The Darkrunner Guild has a powerful, well-known charter although one more interested in helping visitors adapt to the to those who dwell below. A darkrunner is honor-bound to city than profiting from them in an illegal manner. Several serve and protect his charges from the dangers of the wild, of the darkrunner’s abilities can be adapted to work in alleys on threat of expulsion and exile from the guild. As a result, or dense crowds, although the class’s aberration lore feature most nonaberration underground races react favorably to should be changed to something more appropriate for the a darkrunner, and have an initial attitude of no worse than city in question. indifferent despite any racial tensions that might exist between A sample darkrunner appears in the description of the the individuals. Darkrunner Guild on page 218. Aberrations that recognize a character as a darkrunner have an initial attitude of unfriendly at best, since the darkrunners sometimes serve as spies against these races. The flesh is the key. It holds the secrets, the hidden words. It is the DARKRUNNER LORE constant between man and beast and monster. It is a simple matter, Characters with Knowledge (local) can research darkrunonce the way of the flesh is understood and embraced, to use it to your ners to learn more about them. When a character makes a will. It should not be abhorred simply for its differences, because the eye can be retrained to find beauty in all things. For what is more skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the beautiful than the primal flesh? It is simply the purest form of expresinformation from lower DCs. sion one can hope to achieve. DC 10: “The darkrunner is an explorer, guide, and spy who —Erkin Tiorki, fleshwarper focuses his skills on the realm below.” DC 15: “Most darkrunners belong to a powerful guild. This guild has chapter houses underground, including many in The fleshwarper is destined to walk a lonely path, for few otherwise hostile cities; these houses are excellent places to have the stomach to accept what he considers enjoyable. To rest and hide out if you happen to be allied with them.” a fleshwarper, there is no greater canvas than flesh itself. To DC 20: “All darkrunners are expected to wear a magic badge reshape, reform, and rebuild the flesh into a new form is a that proclaims their allegiance to the guild. Some darkrunners closer step to divinity. To a fleshwarper, there are no taboos, have broken their ties with the guild. These darkrunners are only possibilities. dangerous, but one can tell them apart from others by the red glow their emblems emit. Someone who refuses to display his BECOMING A FLESHWARPER emblem even though he claims to be a darkrunner is probably Most fleshwarpers are primarily wizards or sorcerers with a lying about something.” level of cleric (or, more rarely, druid); this cleric or druid level DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success can raises your maximum ranks in Heal to your character level + 3 learn important details about powerful darkrunners and their even if you were forced to buy several of the required ranks as a guild in your campaign. They also know certain passwords cross-class skill. The adept NPC class from the Dungeon Master’s that can smooth over initial contacts with a darkrunner and Guide has access to both Heal and Knowledge (arcana), as well as the summon familiar class feature, and thus can qualify for grant a +6 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks made to this class by 6th level without multiclassing. adjust a darkrunner’s initial attitude. Such dedication pays in the long run. The fleshwarper learns DARKRUNNERS IN THE GAME countless eldritch and disturbing secrets that most people can A darkrunner spends most of his time in the vast region of never even guess at. Intelligence is perhaps the most important caves and tunnels below the surface world. If the PCs wish to of the class’s abilities, since many of the fleshwarper’s class
FLESHWARPER
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