Kae'Yoss
First Post
Yes, Midnight is not for everybody. The basic notion that the heroes will overcome every obstacle doesn't count there, and while heroes in other worlds will be celebrated for their deeds, in Midnight they will often be betrayed by the very people they fought for - betrayed to the Shadow for some food to survive another day.
It's dark, but it's a great setting, and has several outstanding points:
The races are, in many cases quite different from the PHB versions: Some have the classical roles (elves as masters of magic, dwarves as magic-fearing mountain warriors), but their abilities fit the role much better. Others have very different roles (gnomes, for example, are a river-faring folk of traders and smugglers that is seemingly in league with the Shadow, but that works against it in secret).
Half-breeds aren't possible between humans and other races, as they don't share a common ancestry. The other races (elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, even orcs!) share one (all decended from the elder fey), and the available half-breed races are elfling (halfing/elf), dwarrow (dwarf/gnome) and dworg (dwarf/orc).
The alternate magic system seems quite interesting, and the inevitable restrictions heroes have to work under require you to rethink some strategies:
Since the material plane is completely and utterly separated from the other planes, there are some problems:
Arcane magic (which, as has been mentioned, is the only type of magic you can learn unless you follow the Izrador, who wants to destroy the whole world) can't be used as carelessly as you're used to in D&D. A channeler has spell points equal to his key ability bonus (Int, Wis or Cha, yoru choice, and it influences your other gains as a spellcaster) plus his level in the channeler class (plus bonuses from race or heroic path, if any). Every spell you cast costs points equal to their spell level (and some spells, especially the flashy evocations, cost more than that), and if you run out of spell points, you'll have to burn your con.
Others can learn magic, too, but the channeler gets many of the necessary feats as bonus feats, and an extra cache of magic points.
The available spells are all spells from the PHB (and whatever your DM allows) from the sor/wiz, druid, bard and ranger lists (at the lowest possible level). Those spells that only appear on the cleric and/or paladin lists are off limits. Also note that the Legate's Astirax companions (Legates are the clerics of Izrador, and they are usually accompanied by an Astirax, an evil spirit creature that can possess animals) can sense the presence and use of magic.
If you want to play a hero whose deeds will never be sung about, whose achievements will be temporary setbacks for the enemy at best, Midnight is for you. In a world where things like weapons, magic, even knowledge and eductation are illegal for all who don't serve the Shadow, you'll have to pick your fights, and pick them carefully. But those temporary victories might have even more meaning.
And don't think that the lack of magic items and weakened magic means that you're weak and pathetic: The races are noticably stronger than normal, and beyond race and classes, every hero has a heroic path, which grants one extra ability per level. Some of those are ability increases, some are special abilities, some are even innate spells (which an Astirax cannot sense)
It's dark, but it's a great setting, and has several outstanding points:
The races are, in many cases quite different from the PHB versions: Some have the classical roles (elves as masters of magic, dwarves as magic-fearing mountain warriors), but their abilities fit the role much better. Others have very different roles (gnomes, for example, are a river-faring folk of traders and smugglers that is seemingly in league with the Shadow, but that works against it in secret).
Half-breeds aren't possible between humans and other races, as they don't share a common ancestry. The other races (elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, even orcs!) share one (all decended from the elder fey), and the available half-breed races are elfling (halfing/elf), dwarrow (dwarf/gnome) and dworg (dwarf/orc).
The alternate magic system seems quite interesting, and the inevitable restrictions heroes have to work under require you to rethink some strategies:
Since the material plane is completely and utterly separated from the other planes, there are some problems:
- You can't reach the gods, so no divine magic for you. The only deity that is on the material plane is Izrador, the very enemy you fight. The Legates still have access to all the cleric magic they want, but those spells are beyond your grasp
- The separation also means that spells that deal with other planes, like teleport, won't work
- Since the souls of the dead cannot reach the afterlife, they invariably linger. Many enter their old bodies or haunt the places of their deaths. These Fell (that's how the undead are called) are usually quite insane and a threat, which means that corpses have to be dealt with (which every race does in its own way, from orc cannibalism to the elves Whispering Wood)
Arcane magic (which, as has been mentioned, is the only type of magic you can learn unless you follow the Izrador, who wants to destroy the whole world) can't be used as carelessly as you're used to in D&D. A channeler has spell points equal to his key ability bonus (Int, Wis or Cha, yoru choice, and it influences your other gains as a spellcaster) plus his level in the channeler class (plus bonuses from race or heroic path, if any). Every spell you cast costs points equal to their spell level (and some spells, especially the flashy evocations, cost more than that), and if you run out of spell points, you'll have to burn your con.
Others can learn magic, too, but the channeler gets many of the necessary feats as bonus feats, and an extra cache of magic points.
The available spells are all spells from the PHB (and whatever your DM allows) from the sor/wiz, druid, bard and ranger lists (at the lowest possible level). Those spells that only appear on the cleric and/or paladin lists are off limits. Also note that the Legate's Astirax companions (Legates are the clerics of Izrador, and they are usually accompanied by an Astirax, an evil spirit creature that can possess animals) can sense the presence and use of magic.
If you want to play a hero whose deeds will never be sung about, whose achievements will be temporary setbacks for the enemy at best, Midnight is for you. In a world where things like weapons, magic, even knowledge and eductation are illegal for all who don't serve the Shadow, you'll have to pick your fights, and pick them carefully. But those temporary victories might have even more meaning.
And don't think that the lack of magic items and weakened magic means that you're weak and pathetic: The races are noticably stronger than normal, and beyond race and classes, every hero has a heroic path, which grants one extra ability per level. Some of those are ability increases, some are special abilities, some are even innate spells (which an Astirax cannot sense)
