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The Current Age

Though it is generally not known, Domin is currently in a time of flux -- halfway between a new Legendary Age, a time of strife and darkness but also heroism, and a simpler time of restrained power. The following 'rules' are vague guidelines for the current 'simpler' time, and they will gradually shift as the current age ends and a new one begins...assuming the characters let a new age dawn!

Once again, just for clarity: If these penalities seem too steep, worry not! They're going away, fast:D

NOT a Time of Legend

• Level Limits: There is a hard limit on levels in the current age -- 11th. Elves can raise this limit by one, and Goblinoids of all kinds lower it by 1. This means that the absolute best of the best in Domin are 11th level. The best wizard in all the world? 11th level. The greatest warrior? 11th level. This is for /character level/, not just class level, so no character can be a "5th level sorcerer/9th level cleric".
  • The Upper Class: There are some people a cut above the rest, even in heroes, people who are legends in this age that is not suited to legendary behavior. These folk are 7th to 10th level.
  • The Heroes: When someone is thinking of a 'hero', they are thinking of someone between 4th and 6th level. These are the people that fight off bandits, fight duels for honor, and otherwise set themselves out above.
  • The Average Fellow: Most people in the world are from between 1st and 3rd level. Most of these are in NPC classes, particularly commoners, so don't necessarily expect everyone YOU interact with to be these levels.

There is one exception to this rule: It didn't apply during the Age of Myth and the Age of Legend. The Sorcerer-King of Landri, for instance, was a 37th level Sorcerer when he triggered the Great Calamity. Exceedingly old bastards that were alive in that period don't loose their levels, and would keep all the power that they had, as long as they stay out of sight and avoid too much exposure. Until the power level of the setting can more naturally support them, these exceedingly powerful geezers suffer in numerous ways if they become too much of a spectacle.

• the Average Stats: 65% of the populace uses 3d6 for his stats. The other 35% uses 4d6, drop lowest. A similar percentage rolls hit points at first level, instead of taking the maximum.
  • A Few Rare Exceptions: The presence of people who use 5d6, drop two lowest, is a sign that the balance is starting to shift toward a new Legendary Age.
  • For that matter... If anyone KNEW the ratio's I just used above, and what it meant, they'd be worried. During the height of the Empire, the ratio was closer to 90/10.
• the Presence of Monsters in Domin (all from the Monster Manuel)
  • The Following Monsters are ALWAYS in Domin: Ankheg, Bugbear, Dinosaurs (in some locations), Dire Animals, Dryad, Dwarf, Giant Eagle, Elf, Ethereal Filcher, Ethereal Maruader, Ettin, Gargoyles, Ghosts, Ghouls, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Griffon, Hag, Halflings, Hobgoblins, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Ogres, Orcs, Shadow, Sprite, Wights, Will-o-the-Wisp, Wyvern, All Animals, All Vermin.
  • The Following Monsters are Present in Domin /NOW/: Basilisk, Bodak, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Chimera, Cockatrice, Delver, Devourer, Displacer Beasts, Doppleganger, Fiendish Creatures, Frost Worm, Genies, Half-Fiends, Hydra, Invisible Stalker, Lycanthrope, Minotaurs, Mummy, Nymph, Ogre Mages, Tieflings, Rakshasa, Sahuagin, Spectre, Trolls, Winter Wolf, Wraith, Yuan-Ti.
  • The Following Monsters shoudln't Be Here, but Are Anyway (False One): Beholder (a few survivors), Chaos Beast, Demons (of various kinds and power), Devils (ditto), Drow, Drider, Hellhounds, Mind Flayers, Umber Hulks, Vampires (a few survivors), and worse things you don't know about.
  • the Following Monsters aren't around yet...right?: Dragons, Giants, Lich ('cept OLD ones), Medusa, Sphinx, Tarrasque, Treants, and other Legendary Things.

These categories are defined as follows. The first groups are just -- /present/. They're natural, and always in the world and have to be dealt with. There's little there that an "hero" level character can't deal with, and that which can't be is a fair fight for an 11th level character. Most of the things there are just "races" as opposed to "monsters". The second group are /creatures of legend/...that have been showing up, and that are causing more and more trouble for the heroes. Most of these can be handled by the higher-level heroes, though some of them cause some trouble and are tough battles. The third column are unnatural hellish beasts of legends, or just THINGS that nobody has ever heard of. They were present when the False One waged his war, and many of them remain in the darker places of the world...waiting for their time to come. They cause trouble now and again, and for most of them the heroes of the world have a hard time really dealing with them. The last group are legendary creatures who with the sole exception of a SINGLE dragon, haven't been seen or heard of except in myths.

Note, the above lists includes 'natives' only. Summoned monsters and such are not counted, unless they have taken up residence and have the intent to stay and cause trouble.

• Spells and Stuff:
  • All 5th and 6th level spells are the domain of the most powerful and badass people of the world. They are all hard to cost, and cost an extra 100xp per casting (depending on circumstances) in addition to any other requirements that they might have for casting. These rare and potent magics, seldom seen.
    • Roughly 50% of the time, 7th and higher level spells found on scrolls explode when someone attempts to cast them causing 1d6 points of damage per two spell levels. The scroll is destroyed in the conflagration. Using any 7th or higher level spell from a Staff has a 10% chance of breaking the staff, doing 1d6 points of damage per spell level of the highest level spell contained in the staff to everyone within 10 feet per highest spell level of the spells within. More powerful magical items are not affected, and can use legendary spells at will.
  • The "Planar Ally" spells are legends, and have been lost for thousands upon thousands of years. Similarly, demons and angels (and related outsiders) generally cannot be summoned. The most powerful summoning spells are "Summon Monster", which works for a few minutes at best. Even then, ONLY Demons can be summoned.
  • ANY Spell that restores life just doesn't work...the vast majority of the time. If you really want to try to raise someone from death, it can be attempted. Sometimes, for some unknown reason, the One God allows a soul to restored to life. These spells DID work during the time of the War against the False One (and have worked in times of Legend), but ceased working almost immediately after his defeat.
• Facing Creatures of Legend: Some creatures are too powerful to currently exist in this world. The following bonuses and penalities apply when such creatures are being faced, if the age has not fully accepted their presence.
  • Characters of 11th level or lower recieve 11 + class level Legendary Resistance against the most unnatural and deadly powers of these Legendary Beasts (ST's discretion). This works identically to Spell Resistance, except that on a successful resistance the power just fails to work at all as opposed to not affecting the target.
  • Character's automatically hit a Legendary Beast on a roll of 19 or 20, regardless of AC.
  • Characters double their threat threshold against Legendary Beasts, and inflict +1x damage on a successful critical hit against a legendary beast. It should be noted that most Legendary Beasts have impressive A Cs?, and you still need to /HIT/ with the second roll to score a critical hit (as opposed to a normal hit).
  • Legendary Beasts that are not current power-level do not recieve a saving throw against various powerful and potent effects that are especially potent against them. All such effects are 50% more effective against them.

These are the reason most such legendary creatures lay low, in the current atmosphere. These penalities explictly apply to any ancient characters that might exist in the campaign setting with a class level above 11th.