The Book of Immortals distinguishes between ‘Epic’ games that involve high-level characters and high power, and ‘epic’ games that involve fundamental questions about good and evil, the use of power, or so on, and address how events change the world for good or ill. The goal of the book, as I understand it, is to aid in constructing a ‘hybrid’ game - adding the lacking ‘epic’ elements through immortals.
The book presents an entirely different method of character advancement, the
Immortal Path that culminates in transcendence and apotheosis. By completing certain
Challenges characters along this path can align themselves with ‘epic’ sources of power such as Nature, or Mythic Good. This grants them immortal
Aura,
Gifts such as god-worthy weapons or eternal youth, and a myriad of other powers. It also burdens them, however, with obligations and limitations no mortal need bear. Apotheosis itself is not described, but all the stages along the path from mortal to true
Immortal are detailed along with various sources and places of mythic power, relationships with them, and the powers they bring.
The immortal path lies completely aside from the normal, character level driven, progression. That is my main complaint: although progressing along the path to immortality grants you powers, this is not reflected in your character level, in level adjustment, in templates, or in any of the other tools 3e provides. The aspirant does not gain XP during an attempt to complete a
challenge, but the benefits gained have little to do with the lost XP. Furthermore, once enough
challenges are met the aspirant may attempt a
Great Challenge to progress to the next stage of apotheosis. Should he fail, he will be stripped of all his immortal powers and become a mortal. It also seems to me the power difference between two characters in the same stage along the path can be substantial. I am afraid a DM will find it very difficult to maintain balance with a group containing immortal characters.
Challenges are difficult. The author says the minimal level to attempt the easier ones is 14, except a few that can be attempted as low as 6. From my reading it seems the bulk of the
challenges are fitted around early Epic or teen-level characters, and taper off by the 30s or so. The book provides a wide assortment of
challenges, each an outline of checks and roll DCs with advice on how to fit it to your game. I was impressed with how the author managed to separate the mechanics from the flavor, and explain how the same basic mechanics can apply to several tests falling under the same “archetype”. Examples are given.
I found it ironic that the book offers only a few sample paths to immortality (6). My old Wrath of the Immortals boxed set had five paths for the five granting powers (IIRC), the BoI allows for numerous granting powers and even allows to combine them so it is only natural that not all paths can be presented, but somehow I found the number of example paths lacking.
To even reach a
challenge the character needs to tap a source of power through a
wellspring or by a
covenant.
A character may locate a
Wellspring of a mythic primeval power, such as the Library of the Last Truth, staffed by animals and containing all the knowledge in the universe, or The Hanging Tree on which the villagers of the long-lost village of Torluin once hang 40 innocents and in so doing cursed the land, and tree, with their bile. The BoI describes about 16 sources of power, from Mythic Law to Elemental Earth or Abstract Love. Each is given several example
wellsprings that allow tapping it, and rules to construct others. A detailed list of
Blessings and
Banes the power grants according to the number of completed
challenges related to it is also provided, as well as a substantial description of the power and what it is like to be an immortal tapping it.
I found many of the
wellsprings to be fascinating places, and even if some are lackluster the idea just ooze adventure potential and ‘epic’ goodness. Due to their importance to immortals, however, the DM should consider carefully how to integrate such places into his campaign. I did not find the book adequately clarified to how is it that these powerful places are largely left alone by immortals and mortals alike, if one to were to follow the world the rules imply I fear these beautiful places would be crammed with competing and scheming immortals.
The
banes and
blessings add a tremendous amount of flavor as the immortal gains unique powers but also severe limitations. For example, an Avatar of Knowledge (9 completed
challenges in the service of Abstract Knowledge) can cast divination or legend lore once per day per Int bonus, has +9 to all knowledge skills and all are class skills for him, and may take 20 on a knowledge (or bardic knowledge) check once per day. However, he always acts last in a round, and all NPCs feel him undermining their free will, so the immortal doesn’t add a Cha bonus and subtracts his Int bonus for such social interactions and they are hostile towards him. I found that typically some of the
banes or
blessings will be mediocre, others great, and others be great ideas that need better mechanics - but overall this mechanic adds a lot of color and flavor to the character. They seem to vary widely in power, however.
Instead of seeking out a wellspring, you can form a
Covenant with a god or a mythic entity such as Animals, a certain Nation, or the Moon to gain
challenges. About 5 mythic entities are presented, as well as all the PH domains (as covenants with deities granting them). Each described covenant source gets an ordered list of duties related to the amount of
challenges overcome in the course of the covenant, and of course a description of the nature of its source. For example, after completing 3
challenges as part of a covenant with The Green (plants), you have taken a
Bond to “Foster the Green”, a
Commitment to be an “Adversary to the Common Man” (farmers), and must make a seasonal
Offering of blood. All the roles and duties possible within a covenant (
commitment, blood
offering, and so on) are extensively detailed, though I must confess I’m still a little vague on what precisely some things mean. I must be dense.
Since the powers behind the covenant are interactive (gods, mythic wolf spirits, and so on) I see covenants as providing an excellent source of roleplaying.
Covenants tend to several limit the character in terms of taking up time and resources for annual rituals, obligating them to certain courses of action, and even to answering the call of anyone that meets certain criteria (at 7 completed
challenges for the green, for example, the character must be at the beck and call of level 8+ druids).
Whether through
covenants or
wellsprings an immortal character enjoys greater power than an equal-level character, but is also more limited. I really liked the flavor implications, the immortals are imbued with by the great supernatural powers but as they assume their powers they also assume their natures and responsibilities. None of this, however, lowers their power or makes balancing them with non-immortal characters any easier.
With each new
challenge overcome the immortal gains more power. Aside from the fairly weak
blessings, the true power lies in
Gifts: with each overcome
challenge the immortal character gains a
Gift, and his
Aura increases. There are several types of
gifts.
Artefacts are
gifts in material form, essentially artifacts. They have a fairly reach flavor and complex mechanics govern their power, but ultimately they are uber magic items. They are perhaps better alternatives to represent items such as Thor’s hammer or Moradin’s axe.
Attributes are much like feats, offering a fairly wide array of benefits such as becoming mostly undead, eternal youth, increased strength, +5’ to movement, and so on.
Numen are servitors, they may serve varied roles from the general of the immortal’s armies to lowly servants.
Powers are
gifts that allow direct mastery over Fire, Evil or so on. Each is a complex ability with multiple options, but generally they allow the immortal to wield direct power under their spheres of influence.
The
gifts are very varied, so it is hard to assess them. I found most to be too complex for me to properly digest mechanically. They are absolutely needed as they form the backbone of the immortal’s power, and their great variety and customization allows for many varied characters.
I have so far avoided talking about
aura. That is because it is too complex. Basically, the immortal’s aura increases with the amount of
challenges he makes, but jumps whenever he completes a
great challenge. It produces fear or owe in those near him, but its principal role is to serve as a point pool for all the other powers. By infusing his aura into his
gifts (and a few other things) the immortal can greatly enhance them. In this way the immortal’s statistics are dynamic, he can change them by focusing his aura differently.
I found this to be a most complex and potentially frustrating mechanic, but I’m sure many players would love to min/max and tinker with their options.
The infusion of aura is done through two new skills,
Channel and
Infuse, which are class skills for immortals (i.e. they can gain ranks in them when they increase their character level). This only adds a layer of complexity to an already complex issue, and I honestly don’t know what the end result looks like in practice.
Conclusion
I never played using the BoI, so I don’t know how it works in practice. But the sheer complexity of the rules, with their myriad aura-infusing options and interconnections, makes me leery of attempting to. I found the ideas intriguing, but the rules too complex and completely unbalanced. I am also timid of allowing hordes of rampaging immortals to act in my campaign; if I will use this product, it will be in moderation, and there will be no “immortal society” to speak of.
This book set out to add ‘epic’ to Epic. The many excellent ideas such as the wellsprings, covenants, and immortals shackled by the very source of their power certainly do put the ‘epic’ in the game, but for my money all this doesn’t make up for the overly-complex rules (for my taste), or the utter lack of regard for game balance.
The book also needlessly railroads. For example, “The Immortal who owns the artefact or his knowing agents cannot harm the artefact without instantly killing the Immortal.” The author obviously didn’t want the owner to harm the artefact (and hence retrieve his Aura points) at will, and so makes sure he won’t using the ultimate punishment. That’s railroading. This is just an example, this kind of approach permeates the text. Bad form.
I decided to give it 3 out of 5 stars – I found it inspiring and think it can serve well in some campaigns and groups, but I don’t consider it a good product.
Another Note: I purchased the BoI as a pdf, and I am truly frustrated by the lack of bookmarks. This is a big (258 page) pdf, and navigating it without bookmarks can be very annoying.
The final nail in the coffin for me was it’s OGC declaration,
”OGC Declaration” said:
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, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved.
I intended to use it in an Open Game Content only campaign, and this declaration pretty much nullified that possibility. I truly despise vague OGC declarations.
