Dungeons & Dragons: Immortals Rules (1986) Quiz

Answer: Power Points

When a character transitions from mortal to immortal, their XP are converted to Power Points (PP) at a rate of 10,000 XP = 1 PP. PP are a measure of an immortal's life force. Immortals gain new additional PP through various activities including going on adventures and completing quests, just like how normal mortal characters gain XP. Immortals have their own hierarchy of six ranks, each of which contains six levels, in place of experience levels that mortals have, and earning PP is necessary for advancement.

As immortals gain more PP, they grow in power and influence. Many activities that immortals engage in require expenditure of PP, which may involve either a temporary or a permanent cost, depending on the action. For example, immortals can cast any kind of mortal magic spell by expending temporary PP, which are regenerated at a steady rate, while creating certain kinds of permanent effects, such as creating artifacts or raising ability scores requires permanent expenditure of PP, which are not automatically regained.

Answer: Aura

For immortals, inhabiting a material body is optional. When not in material form, an immortal is in their "incorporeal" form, which consists of pure power and life-force without a material basis. In this form, the character's range of actions are limited, e.g., they can travel and communicate telepathically but cannot create magical or other special effects.

However, they are immune to most attack forms, including spells and physical attacks. The "normal" form is the most versatile physical form, as it allows the immortal to perform a full range of actions and create all types of magical effects.

This form is made of a kind of sturdy and unique form of matter that, while not invulnerable, is nevertheless extremely durable. When a character first becomes immortal, their sponsor creates a normal form for them that usually resembles the appearance they had in their mortal existence.

However, the character has the option to redesign the form in almost any way that they desire within certain practical limits.

The "mortal" form, as the name suggests, recreates the physical body that the character had during their mortal existence, complete with all its frailties, although it may be magically altered as needed. Immortals may assume mortal guises when they wish to go incognito among mortals. Immortal society has a law forbidding direct interference by immortals with the prime material plane, although immortals may freely visit the plane in their mortal forms. If an immortal's physical form (normal or mortal) is slain while outside their home plane, they revert to their incorporeal form and return automatically to their home plane where they can create a new form. However, if an immortal is occupying their normal form on their home plane and this form is slain, the character's life force is permanently extinguished, destroying the immortal forever. Fortunately for them, it is difficult to kill an immortal on their home plane, as they have special resistances to attacks occurring there. An immortal's aura is not one of their forms but refers to a special effect created when a mortal creature senses an immortal's life-force. The aura can be used to create awe or terror in nearby mortals if so desired, although it has no such effects on other immortals. An immortal's aura can only be sensed by others when they are in either their incorporeal or normal forms, but not their mortal form, which allows immortals to disguise themselves even from other immortals.

Answer: Intelligence

Immortals engage in personal projects to further their own goals and thereby increase their Power. A high intelligence score confers an ability bonus, e.g., a score of 18 gives a bonus of +3, while a score of 20 gives a bonus of +4, and so on. The number of projects an immortal can have going at the same time equals their intelligence ability bonus, based on the idea that greater intelligence increases one's ability to handle complex information and therefore pay attention to many things. Immortals can expend Power permanently to increase their ability scores, including intelligence up to limits determined by their current rank.

For example, those of Temporal rank can increase each ability score up to 25 (allowing them to handle up to 6 projects), while Celestials can go up to 50 (up to 10 projects), and so on, up to a maximum of 100 (up to 20 projects) for Eternals and Hierarchs.

Answer: Constitution

Constitution, strength, and dexterity are considered primarily physical abilities, so an attack on them requires physical contact. Wisdom, intelligence, and charisma are considered primarily mental abilities, so these are attacked mentally. To attack another's physical ability, such as their constitution score, the attacker must be in a physical form (i.e., not incorporeal) and attempt to punch the target. If the punch misses, the attack fails. If the punch connects, this does not necessarily mean the attack is successful. To determine the result, both participants in the combat roll a six-sided die and adjust the result by the relevant ability score modifier.

The lower adjusted score is subtracted from the higher one. The opponent with the lower score loses ability score points equal to that difference, while the victor gains ability points of the same value.

Hence, attacking another's ability score would be risky unless the difference between one's ability modifiers is +6 or more. Ability score changes take immediate effect, which means that the victor's ability modifier could also increase, giving them a further advantage over their victim. For immortals, ability score gains and losses are only temporary, for example, the victor's ability score will only be increased for 60 minutes. Immortals can regenerate lost ability scores at a steady rate that is affected by environmental factors, although a mortal character would not regain lost ability points. Attacks on mental abilities can be performed as long as both characters can communicate in some way, even magically, so they need not even be on the same plane.

The victim can only prevent the attack by silencing the attacker or moving out of range of all possible communication. Regarding using Power combat to reduce another character's Power points rather than ability scores, this is the only form of combat that an immortal can engage in while in incorporeal form; conversely, this is the only way that an incorporeal immortal can be attacked. Losses of power points are also temporary and can usually be regenerated. If an immortal is reduced to zero power points, any excess loss is deducted from their physical form's hit points. If they are not using a physical form, or they run out of hit points, they are then forced to return to their home plane. If they no longer have a home plane or are defeated there, once they reach zero Power points, their life force is permanently extinguished, resulting in their utter destruction.

Answer: It cannot be detected by any means.

When a character becomes an immortal, they are granted one of the outer planes as a home plane. The home plane is a kind of pocket universe of vast but finite extent that is normally entered from the astral plane. Powerful immortals may limit access to their home plane by connecting it to another nearby outer plane through a permanent gate and removing all astral access points to the home plane.

This way, it can only be accessed indirectly through another plane, not directly through the astral. Some immortals may even retreat within their home planes and seal off all access from the outside to maintain their privacy.

The danger in eliminating astral access points and only allowing access through another nearby plane using gates is that the latter, like all magical effects, can be dispelled. If this were to happen the plane would become permanently inaccessible, even by opening a new gate because the plane has effectively vanished from any means to detect it. For this reason, any immortal who eliminates access from the astral plane to their home plane is careful to always leave an avatar (an extra physical form containing a portion of the immortal's life force and permanently connected to them) within the home plane so that they cannot be cut off from it.

Otherwise, an immortal who is cut off from their home plane would be vulnerable to destruction should they ever be drained of all their power.

Answer: Draedens

Draedens are an ancient race of mysterious origin who are feared and respected by all beings aware of their existence, including the Immortals. When first encountering a draeden, any creature must make a wisdom check to perceive its true form. If the check fails, the creature will see the deadliest, most invulnerable thing imaginable. Thus, immortals might perceive them as huge and powerful enemies from the sphere of Entropy, while mortals are apt to perceive them as huge dragons. Each of its strands has a mouth at the end that can be used to bite or swallow any matter it finds, allowing it to perform up to 40 attacks per round of combat. Additionally, they are capable of all forms of Power combat, including a unique ability to reproduce the exact type and strength of any incoming attack. They can use Power to create any magical effect, although they rarely do so, and can cross any dimensional or planar barrier at will. They have an armor class of -20, anti-magic of 99%, and cannot be affected by normal weapons. They are of extraordinarily high intelligence and can use their mouths to communicate in any language. They are descended from beings who existed before the immortals appeared and plan to outlast them by waiting until the latter destroy themselves, so they can claim the multiverse for themselves. Fortunately, there is technically a state of truce between the Immortals and the draedens, and the latter tend to avoid the former. Still, they have been known to attack Immortals' projects for no apparent reason, and the immortals concerned have often abandoned minor projects rather than risk confronting them.

Jumpers are creatures that feed by stealing time from a victim, e.g., an attacked mortal would immediately age 10-40 years, while an immortal who succumbed to their attack would have their life force jump forward in time 50 seconds, leaving their physical form unoccupied for the duration. Nippers are swarming pests common on the astral plane that attempt to burrow under the victim's skin to immediately reproduce live young that begin feeding on the victim. Soo are sentient balls composed of water and time that can create magical effects related to the Sphere of Time.

Answer: Demogorgon

In the Immortals Rules Set, it is explained that demons are Immortals of the Sphere of Entropy (although not all Immortals of Entropy are demons, as this is but one population making up this Sphere). As such, demons are formerly mortal humans or monsters who became undead and later achieved immortality through great evil and cunning. Various classes of demons are explained, along with descriptions of their powers.

The demon rulers Orcus and Demogorgon have a long history in Dungeons and Dragons, dating back to "Eldritch Wizardry," a 1976 supplement to the original version of the game, and are treated as high-ranking immortals in the current rules set.

Interestingly, Demogorgon was originally described as male but is described as female in the Immortals Set.

Her two heads give her the unusual ability to create two separate magical effects in each round - one for each head. Additionally, each head has a distinct gaze power: the left head's gaze can charm any mortal, while the right can cause temporary insanity. Both gazes may affect immortals (subject to them failing a saving throw), with the left head causing a permanent reduction in the target's wisdom score and the right head causing a permanent reduction in their intelligence; both gazes may be used in unison. Additionally, Demogorgon can use both gazes in unison to cause mortals to obey her commands.

She can also attack with her tail and both tentacles in each round of combat. The tail can be used as a whip and causes an energy drain on the victim, while the touch of the tentacles causes a rotting disease that permanently destroys a quarter of the victim's original hit points (both mortals and immortals can be affected by all these attacks). Both Orcus and Demogorgon have the ability to summon various kinds of creatures, including lesser demons as well as mortal monsters and special followers, to come to their assistance if needed. Asmodeus, Juiblex, and Geryon are not mentioned in the Immortals Rules Set but were featured in the "Monster Manual" for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Answer: Immortals can see their destination by looking into the fourth dimension.

The Immortals Rules Set goes into considerable detail about the dimensions of the multiverse. Briefly, there are five known dimensions of space (time is not included in these). The first three are length, breadth, and depth, the fourth is "hyperspace," while the fifth is a dimension so alien it is referred to as "nightmare." Mortal characters occupy only the first three dimensions, while immortals occupy the first four.

Hence, when mortal characters attempt to teleport, they cannot perceive their destination directly, so it is like travelling blindly through space, which creates a chance of error.

The Expert Rules Set explains that when a magic-user casts a teleport spell, their chance of success is affected by their knowledge of the destination.

Hence, a caster with only a casual knowledge of their end location has only a 50% chance of arriving in the exact spot desired; otherwise, there is a risk that they will arrive too high above the destination, with the attendant risk of falling, or worse yet, arrive too low, with the risk of materializing inside a solid object, causing instant death, unless there is an empty space below, such as a cavern. Even with exact knowledge of the destination, the chance of success is only 95%. On the other hand, immortals' ability to perceive the fourth dimension of hyperspace allows them to see exactly where they are going, eliminating any chance of error. Additionally, mortals can only teleport to or from a solid surface on which they are standing, while immortals do not have this restriction, being able to teleport while high in the air if desired, as they have an innate ability to fly.

Answer: Damocles

The Dungeon Master's Guide notes that the dungeon master is free to create any sort of game setting they desire, while making some interesting suggestions about the topic. For example, it is suggested that the game be set on a version of the actual earth in the distant past.

In this setting, the solar system is mostly similar to how it is now, but with a few notable exceptions. Mercury and Pluto do not yet exist, and the area now occupied by the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter contains a planet that will explode at some undefined point in the future, with the suggested name of Damocles. Two large fragments from this explosion will be ejected to opposite ends of the solar system, with one forming Mercury and the other forming Pluto, with smaller fragments forming asteroids. If the dungeon master desires, Damocles could be inhabited by an advanced civilization. Whether the catastrophe that destroys the planet is natural or caused by the inhabitants is also left up to the dungeon master's imagination. Additionally, beyond the orbit of Neptune, there is a planet called Charon, about the size of Mars. (Interestingly, in real life, Charon is the name of Pluto's largest moon, although it is quite smaller than Mars.) Furthermore, it is suggested that beyond the solar system, the closest civilization able to use magic is located on several planets orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani, about 10.7 light years away.

Answer: Blackballs

The Dimensional Vortex restricts immortals to travelling in the five dimensions of space and prevents them from entering the sixth and higher dimensions. This vortex is perceived as a whirlpool of infinite size made of a watery form of ether. Although the immortals have made many attempts to explore and penetrate it, they have never succeeded, and some have even become lost within it for years.

The immortals conjecture that the Dimensional Vortex was created by a transcendental race who preceded them in time they refer to as the "Old Ones." Certain creatures enter and leave the Dimensional Vortex, a fact which troubles the immortals even further, and they believe that these creatures to be servants of the Old Ones. Vortex creatures can be described as either minor or major, and Blackballs are an example of the latter.

In fact, they are the only example provided of major vortex creatures, although dungeon masters are encouraged to create others. Blackballs were introduced in the Master Rules Set, which notes that they are also called Deadly Spheres, and are described as featureless black globes about 5 feet in diameter that move slowly and disintegrate anything they touch. If a blackball were to touch an immortal, even if in incorporeal form, the immortal would need to make a saving throw vs. Power Drain to break free and resist its life draining attack.

Otherwise, the immortal would lose one-third of all their current Power Points. If the first saving throw is failed, they must make a second, and if that fails, a third. If the immortal fails all three, their life force is sucked through the blackball and cast adrift into the Dimensional Vortex. Blackballs, like all major vortex creatures, are immune to all attack forms, including magical and Power attacks, although they may be maneuvered through non-aggressive magical effects. For example, the Master Rules notes that they can be sent away through a gate spell, sending them to another plane, or a carefully worded wish.