Guide to the Immortals

DUNGEON MASTER
This is the path that opposes that of the Paragon and in
general the Sphere of Energy. Those people who follow
this path are tremendously ambitious and astute (very
often also paranoid and prone to megalomania), but
usually too aloof or cowardly to directly facing their
enemies, preferring to create elaborate traps or surround
himself with a vast network of flunkies and monstrous
servants to carry forward his schemes and eliminate his
enemies. Whoever successfully completes the path of the
Dungeon Master remains obsessed by the quest for power
and by the idea of draining Energy (thus becoming a
sworn enemy of that Sphere, in particular).
Quest: The Dungeon Master must face a long series of
enemies to prove his superiority and defend his
underground lair (see Testimony), protecting at the same
time the artefact he created (see Trial). However, the
confrontation with his enemies must not be direct, he
must manoeuvre the traps and creatures which infest his
lair toward overwhelming and killing all the adventurers
that seek to confront him. In practice, each time that a
group of adventurers succeeds in penetrating his dungeon
far enough to approach his inner sanctum (where the
artefact created for his Trial is guarded) the Dungeon
Master must send against the invaders a successor of
lowest level (among those he trained, see Testimony) to
face them as the “final enemy”. If the invaders win, the
candidate will not be able to prevent them stealing what
they want and must next recover or recreate the artefact (if
it has been stolen or destroyed) and once more fill his lair
with traps and guardians, even if he isn’t able to replace
the slain follower in the final conflict. If during the deed at
least one member of the group of adventurers loses his life,
he does however count towards the quota of eight
adventurers killed that helps the candidate in achieving his
Quest.
It is necessary that each successive individual killed be
of a higher level than the last (deaths of lower level aren’t
counted). Only when reaching the last victim can the
Dungeon Master personally face the intruders, with the
aim of totally annihilating the group that has entered his
underground complex. Given that the candidate cannot
control the access to his lair, it can happen that a group
can arrive in which there are characters of higher level than
of the last victim killed, and if he successfully kills one this
makes it much more difficult to find other victims of
higher level (example: the third victim is 7 th level, and
arrive in the dungeon a group where the minimum level of
15 th ; even if he kills the weakest member, he would then
have a very difficult task attracting a character of higher
level into the dungeon, and it would similarly be an
arduous task to kill him). In any case however the
candidate can decide to not take account of a slain victim,
even if this satisfies the prerequisites for the quest. The
patron of the Dungeon Master always helps the candidate
to recover the artefact if it is stolen, but on the other hand
he will always place new challenges in front of his pupil
13
encouraging ever more powerful groups of adventurers to
invade the lair.
Trial: The Dungeon Master must create a completely
innovative item (a destructive artefact that enables the
creation of a race of dangerous monsters) that constitutes a
threat to at least a thousand living beings. If the aspirant
isn’t able to make it with magical means, he must hire
someone that can help him, the fundamental idea must be
his own, and the Dungeon Master must supervise the
process. The candidate must personally go in search of the
more rare components used for the creation and must
recover at least one “impossible” component. The time
taken to create the artefact is based on the normal rules for
creation of such items. The candidate must finally use the
item at least once to demonstrate his devastating power to
his enemies.
Task: The Dungeon Master must undertake a difficult
Task lasting at least 5 years resulting in the acquisition of
an artefact of the Sphere of Entropy, which must be
hidden within a construction (fortress, labyrinth, dungeon
or similar) full of dangerous traps and terrible guardians
that the candidate must overcome.
Testimony: The Dungeon Master must train at least 6
followers who must progress up to 12 th level while they’re
in his service, and who he should exploit to achieve his
Quest. Furthermore he must create an enormous
underground complex of at least 6 levels, each of which
must be an expanse of over 2,500m 2 , to guard his artefact.
This underground lair must by necessity be attractive to
heroic adventurers who will try to stop the Dungeon
Master, and he must overcome all the difficulties that this
entails (see Quest) in the course of completing the
construction.
TYRANT
This is the path that is opposed to that of the Dynast
and in general to the Sphere of Time. Those people who
follow this path are individuals attracted to conquest and
rulership with an iron fist, often violent and warlike, who
base their power on strength and terror. Whoever
successfully completes the path of the Tyrant remains
obsessed with the idea of bending the natural order of
things (and the course of events) to his own incontestable
will (becoming therefore a sworn enemy in particular of
the Sphere of Time).
Quest: The Tyrant must maintain the balance of power
in the conquered territory (see Testimony) until the end of
his mortal life, facing at least three important challenges
during his tyranny that the Patron arranges to provide: a
hostile military invasion, an attempted state coup and a
religious schism. At the death of the Tyrant by natural or
unnatural causes (it can not only be the result of
conspiracy or open conflict, but also of disease or old age,
etc.) the throne must not pass into the hands of an heir.
The candidate must ensure that there are several different
pretenders to the throne that fight among themselves,