Page 189 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

and fungi, minerals, bodies of water, or people; local animal someone who can be trusted as a guide and even a friend. Yet
population; and the presence of elemental creatures, powerful beneath the surface, you are a resourceful, solid realist. The
abominations, or undead. deep earth is no place for the naive, and its travelers should

Improved Cavefighting (Ex): At 8th level, your cavefight- constantly suspect danger even when they feel safest.
ing techniques improve further. You can take 10 at any time
with any of the following skills while underground, even if Combat
you are threatened or distracted: Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, You should focus your combat skills on fast, quick strikes.

Jump, and Swim. Your strength lies in your mobility in confined spaces. Ranged
In addition, you master a style of fighting that incor- weapons aren’t as useful to you for two reasons: The lightless

porates the terrain into your attacks. You might cause an
environs make long-range fighting spotty at best, and the
CHAPTER 9 THE ABERRATION HUNTER opponent to slip with a successful attack and twist an ankle winding tunnels and ample cover mean that you can never
count on being able to get a good shot at something more than
on loose rocks or to stagger into a sharp stalactite. You might
brace yourself against a cave wall to get a little bit of extra
a few dozen feet away.
As you gain levels, you should focus on feats that allow you
pull on your bow. In any case, this fighting style works only
if you are standing in a square of difficult terrain. As long

as you do so, you add a circumstance bonus equal to your increased mobility on the battlefield. Dodge, Mobility, and
Spring Attack are all excellent choices, since you can move
Intelligence bonus (minimum +1) to damage rolls with all through difficult terrain with ease to reach a creature, make

melee weapons and any ranged weapon attacks at a range your attack, then skitter away before it can retaliate effectively.
of 30 feet or less. Since other creatures can’t move as quickly in such cramped
Greater Tunnelport (Sp): Beginning at 9th level, your conditions, you can easily maintain the advantage in combat.
tunnelport ability functions like greater teleport, although you Feats that enhance charges can also be useful, since the

are still bound by the restrictions on the width of passages cavefighting ability lets you charge over difficult terrain with
you can teleport though. Your caster level equals twice your ease.
darkrunner class level. Although you are most at home underground, many of your
Stonewalking (Su): At 10th level, you no longer need abilities work just as well in dungeons closer to the surface or in
confine your underground exploration to caverns and pas- aboveground structures. Always be on the lookout for difficult

sageways. For a limited number of rounds per day, you can terrain from which to establish your combat dominance.
glide through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth
except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. While Advancement

stonewalking, you have a burrow speed equal to your base As you gain levels as a darkrunner, don’t forget to keep up
land speed; this burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, your ranks in various Charisma-based skills such as Bluff,
nor does it create any ripple or other signs of a presence. A Diplomacy, and Intimidate. Your wanderings underground
move earth spell cast on an area where you are stonewalking put you in contact with suspicious or outright hostile settle-

flings you back 30 feet and stuns you for 1 round if you fail a ments, and unless you intend to fight everything (a poor

DC 15 Fortitude save. choice for anyone below the earth), you will be called upon
You can stonewalk for a number of rounds each day equal to present yourself and your companions as friendly visitors.
to 10 + your Intelligence modifier. These rounds need not be Any feats that aid these skills are likewise good choices as

continuous; you can activate this ability for 4 rounds to pass you gain levels.
through a collapsed tunnel and still have the remainder of Remember that Speak Language is a class skill for you.
your rounds available for use later in the same day. Activating Picking up one or two obscure languages per level is a good
and deactivating stonewalking is a free action. If you are still idea, for the sake of being able to communicate with some of
burrowing when you run out of time, you are immediately the creatures you might encounter.
ejected into the nearest open surface large enough to contain Since you will be wandering through unexplored areas, it’s
you. Distance is not a factor, but the ejection is quite painful a good idea to be able to carry a lot with you, either supplies
and forces you to make a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + from your last visit to town or magic items and other objects
1 per 5 feet traveled to reach the open area) or be stunned for you discover on your travels. Some sort of extradimensional
1d4 rounds. container, such as a bag of holding or a portable hole, is a wise
investment. You should also collect magic to augment your
PLAYING A DARKRUNNER various movement modes. A helm of underwater action, a ring

You are first and foremost an explorer. You express a near- of swimming, slippers of spider climbing, and wings of flying are all

constant curiosity about what might lie beyond the next bend quite useful when navigating unexplored tunnels.
in the tunnel. At the same time, you serve as a diplomat, since
your wanderings put you in contact with strange and secluded Resources
societies. You should probably try to be friendly and easygoing, See the presentation of the Darkrunner Guild, page 218.

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