Min/Max Boards

What's the best shenanigans someone can come up with this hilarious curse?

Black Labyrinth
Master, Shadowscape
Level/School: 9th/Conjuration (Creation)
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: One-mile-radius spread, centered on a point in space
Duration: 24 hours/2 levels (D)
Saving Throw: Will partial; see text
Spell Resistance: No

The air blackens, the shadows of the alleys lengthen, and the wind shrieks as the Shadow and Material Planes collide.

Black labyrinth causes substantial disorientation within the area it affects. Direction and distance become impossible to determine, as the world itself bends and twists:

All attacks have a 50% miss chance.

Area effects with a source or target within the black labyrinth have a 20% chance of improper placement. If this occurs, the spell is centered 1d4 x 5 feet in a random direction from where the caster intended. To determine direction, use the rules for a missed splash weapon (PH 158).

All Search and Spot checks take a -10 penalty.

Any movement, from a 5-foot step to a full run and everything between, occurs in a random direction. (Again, use the rules for a missed splash weapon to determine direction.) Reroll any result that places the creature in an "illegal" space (in another creature's area, within a wall, and so on). A random roll that results in a fall off a ledge (or a similar mishap) is allowable. A successful Will save negates this particular effect, but that save must be repeated for each round of movement.

Any teleportation effects with a destination inside the black labyrinth deposit their passengers 1d% x 5 feet from the intended destination. If this would put them inside a solid object, treat as a mishap as described in the teleport spell. If this would send them outside the mystery's area, roll again. A teleport effect cast within the black labyrinth and intended to transport the subject to a point outside the affected area requires a successful Will save; failure indicates that the subject instead teleports to a random point within the black labyrinth.

When within your own black labyrinth, you are immune to the last two effects (movement and teleportation), but not the others. You may attempt to guide your companions through the labyrinth; this does not allow them to find their way automatically, but it does grant them a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist those two effects.

Large Animal
Hit Dice: 9d8+54 (94 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), burrow 20 ft.
Armor Class: 19 (–1 size, +10 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+16
Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d8+9 plus 1d6 acid or Powerful Charge 1d8+9 plus 2d6 plus 1d6 acid)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d8+9 plus 1d6 acid)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Thunderous Howl
Special Qualities: Caustic blood, low-light vision, spiked skin
Saves: Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 11, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 9
Skills: Hide +2*, Listen +2, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Powerful ChargeB, Toughness (3)
Environment: Temperate deserts
Organization: Solitary, pair, or herd (5–8)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 10–18 HD (Large); 19–27 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

Thunderous Howl (Ex): Whenever the bloodstriker charges, all enemies within 30 feet must make a Will save (DC equal to 10 + 1/2 hit dice + Strength modifier) or be shaken for 1d4+1 rounds. It can stack with itself.
Caustic Blood (Ex): Any creature successfully striking a bloodstriker with a melee weapon or natural weapon takes 1d6 points of acid damage from the dinosaur’s highly acidic blood. Weapons with exceptional reach, such as longspears, do not endanger their users in this way.
Spiked Skin (Ex): A bloodstriker’s thick skin bristles with defensive spikes. Any creature attacking a bloodstriker with a melee weapon or natural weapon takes 1d8+6 points of piercing and slashing damage from the dinosaur’s barbs. Weapons with exceptional reach, such as longspears, do not endanger their users in this way.

There's a big humble bundle for Rogue Trader, if anyone's interested.

Basically, how the hell does one get the most out of the class? (It's here for those who don't know it. Magic of Faerun otherwise). It's a class that has very steep entry requirements, and basically requires (or at least really needs) hopping in a level or two early via max skill rank boosting, as well as snagging a class with a ton of class skills (Factotum, Rogue, etc.). There's also no way to boost its powers once you're done with the ten levels of the class, so you're looking at a build that tops out around ~14-15.

So you're looking at an entry of Gnome (or human) Rogue 1/Wiz (or something else arcane like Beguiler) 1/stuff 3/Gnome Arti 10.

Not that the class chassis lends itself to it, but the device powers aren't arcane and don't suffer spell failure, so it is theoretically possible to try and tack a martial core into the build somewhere, potentially more for archery focus than anything else. But given the nature of the class and the steep requirements, that's likely difficult.

So how would someone smarter than me approach this?

Highland Soarer

"Text"
– Am Shaegar, Highland Soarer



Becoming a Highland Soarer
Text

Table 1: The Highland Soarer
Hit Die: d8

Level  BAB    Ref   Fort  Will   Special Abilities                     Fusillades          Seedcasting           
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
  1    +1     +2    +0    +2     Eagle's Vision, Altitude Adaptation   +1 Fusilier Level   +1 Seedcasting Level 
  2    +2     +3    +0    +3     Eagle's Speed, Bonus Feat             +1 Fusilier Level   +1 Seedcasting Level 
  3    +3     +3    +1    +3     Eagle's Assault                       +1 Fusilier Level   +1 Seedcasting Level

Class skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Animal Affinity (Cha), Animalism (Wis), Athletics (Str), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Mentalism (Int), Perception (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex)
             
Requirements:
Feats: Any two Totem feats
Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 6, Animal Affinity 6
Seedcasting: Must be able to cast Nature spells
Special: Totem Animal must be an eagle

Class Fusillades
Text

• Seedcasting: The Highland Soarer increases all casting features as if the character had gained a level in the appropriate class at each indicated level.
  
• Fusillades: The Highland Soarer increases all fusillade features as if the character had gained a level in the appropriate class at each indicated level.
  
• Eagle's Vision (Ex): As the highland soarer becomes more comfortable with its totem animal form, it begins to adopt some of the benefits of that form. He gains a +8 racial bonus to perception checks when in eagle shape. In addition, while in eagle shape, the highland soarer can move at normal speed while following tracks, and can follow tracks from a hundred feet above them via flight.
  
• Altitude Adaptation (Ex): Highland Soarers are automatically acclimated to life at high altitudes. They don’t take the penalties for altitude described in the Mountain Travel section on page 90 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Unlike other denizens of the mountains, they don’t lose their acclimation to high altitude even if they spend months or years at lower elevations.
  
• Eagle's Speed (Ex): The agility of the eagle becomes one and the same with the highland soarer's. He gains the evasion special quality while in eagle shape.
  
• Bonus Feat (Ex): The Highland Soarer, at 2nd level, gains a single bonus feat chosen from the Totem feat category. He must meet the prerequisites of the feat chosen.
  
• Eagle's Assault (Ex): Such is the skill of the Highland Soarer in the air that few can stand before his furious assault. He gains the benefit of the Flyby Attack, Improved Flyby Attack, and Great Flyby Attack feats when in eagle shape.
  

For the Death God's Chosen

For months, the temple of Drancedigaeth had rung with condemnations of Lledrith, god of magic, and the wickedness he was showing. For Lledrith, in his eternal competition with Drancedigaeth, had found a way to steal the souls of the dead. Where once, all who died had gone to the kingdom of the dead, proper resting place of all whose terms ended upon Arhosa, now, through some unknown means, Lledrith siphons some of the dead and the dying to a place unknown. This escalation of the conflict between the two gods has drawn much contemplation from the ecclesiasts and others at the temple, and the steps to retaliate have been heavily discussed.

It was Drancedigaeth himself who answered, his voice filling the minds of his believers. Go forth, it said, go forth and bring all those who are not yet in the embrace of Drancedigaeth into his embrace. The ecclesiasts wondered at this, wondered whether this meant proselytizing, the conveying of the innocent into the realm of the dead, or some other meaning they had not pondered. Thus a second time did their deity speak to them, and in no uncertain terms – they were to empty the world of the living. With such strength in his possession, Drancedigaeth would end Lledrith, and then restore the world as it should be. For a god of the dead has no purpose if there are not living to come into his kingdom.

For weeks, groups have left the temple, assigned to a given task, a given area to sweep clean of life. Tonight is your last night before you, too, are sent forth into the world to do his bidding. You will spend the night in prayer with those with whom you travel, and in the morning, the righteous work shall begin.

This is an Arhosan campaign, primarily utilizing material from the Tome of Ritual Magic. Starting level will be 3rd or 4th.

Allowed races are:
High Caste Biyou
Low Caste Biyou
Flonha
Hanian
Kier
Llethu
Pybyr
Yn Gyntaf
Chanwyr

Allowed classes are:
Champion
Ecclesiast - Must worship Drancedigaeth
Gallant
Savage
Martyr
Ritual Warrior
Ritualist

General rules on character creation

Delver

"Text"
– Am Shaegar, Delver

Today, Arhosa is a land of reconstruction and ruin. Some places, barely touched in the devastating conflict that ended the Arhosan empire, look pristine and valuable, albeit somewhat underpopulated. The former capital of Setras Ra is one of these. The trading cities of Fracha and Idolobha in Pybyr Vestana are also amongst this number, the rebellion there having merely been a continuation of the ongoing power struggles that wrack those cities on an almost weekly basis. Yet elsewhere, devastation became a way of life. The skycities of Hania are almost all crumbled ruins, smashing to the great in titanic impacts as mage battled mage. Biyan saw vicious infighting between rival factions, leaving much of the landscape churned and broken. And outside of Setras Ra, the Llethu homelands were rent by brutal conflict of tribe upon tribe, forcing many back to a state little better than Delvers, living in tents and raiding one another.

What was left behind in all of this conflict was the remains of the Arhosan Empire. Some of these remains, such as the fabled teleport gates that are all but extinct, are too large and too obvious for an individual to retrieve. But other objects, such as small magical items, coinage, artwork, and other portable valuables, those have become critical to a steady flow of underground trade, one propped up mostly in local areas as retreival agents disappear into the ruins, only to return having procurred some item demanded by a wealthy local. Others seek to take their goods further afield, primarily to the semi-lawless trading markets of Fracha, where the Living Sun Wardens never look closely, as long as their claws are greased.

Into this demand steps the delver, specializing in travel across wildernesses and into this collapsing structures where much of the danger is in the architecture itself. The rest, of course, is the locals who don't want the delver there, the others who have claimed the burnt out husk as a home, and the local wildlife that views lone individuals as a snack, not a threat. While profitable, mostly, the life of a delver is often nasty, brutish, and short. And yet many view the rewards as worth the risk.

Becoming a Delver
Text

Table 1: The Delver
Hit Die: d6

Level  BAB    Ref   Fort  Will   Special Abilities           Seedcasting           
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
  1    +0     +2    +0    +0     Depthborn, Golden Nose      +1 Seedcasting Level 
  2    +1     +3    +0    +0     Scarper, From Nowhere       +1 Seedcasting Level 
  3    +2     +3    +1    +1     Misdirect, Silent Departure +1 Seedcasting Level

Class skills (2 + Int modifier per level): Acrobatics (Dex), Acting (Cha), Athletics (Str), Chirography (Int), Device Manipulation (Dex), Diplomacy (Cha), Investigation (Cha), Knowledge (Local, Nature) (Int), Mentalism (Wis), Perception (Wis), Speak Language, Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), Thievery (Dex)
             
Requirements:
Feats: Eyes of Night
Skills: Acrobatics 6, Device Manipulation 6, Stealth 6, Thievery 6, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 6, Perception 6

Class Fusillades
Text

• Seedcasting: The Delver increases all casting features as if the character had gained a level in the appropriate class at each indicated level.
  
• Depthborn (Ex): You ignore the speed reduction for hampered movement and the penalty for hampered melee when moving or fighting in a narrow space (an area smaller than but at least one half of your space) or a low space (an area shorter than but at least one-half of your height) with light or one-handed melee weapons. Furthermore, you take only a –4 circumstance penalty when using a two-handed weapon in such conditions. In a space both narrow and low, you function as if only one of those conditions applied. When moving or fighting in cramped quarters, you do not lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class. In addition, you add your class level to all Acrobatics, Device Manipulation, Stealth, Thievery, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Perception and Athletics checks made in an underground or ruined environment.
  
• Golden Nose (Ex): You can intuit the location of copper, silver, gold, platinum, magic items, and gems within 30 feet, although you can not differentiate between the kinds of valuables. When you detect one of these types of valuables, the exact location of the source is not revealed—only its presence and direction. Whenever you come within 5 feet of the treasure, you can pinpoint its exact location. This can not penetrate barriers.
  
• Scarper (Ex): It's better to escape with some reward, rather than fight and die for no reward. When you use the withdraw action, you may move up to four times your speed, instead of twice your speed.
  
• From Nowhere (Ex): Often in a situation of one against many, the delver is well aware that stealth is often his greatest asset. When the delver makes an attack or casts a spell while hidden, he may attempt to rehide immediately upon conclusion of the attack or spell. He does not take the -20 penalty to this action.
  
• Misdirect (Ex): If there's multiple groups competing with the delver, why not set them against one another? If the delver is hidden and not spotted, by successfully making a Diplomacy check targeting a single creature with a DC of 10 + (2 × the creature’s CR), the delver entices that creature to attack one other creature (of the delver's choice) during its next round. The target must be unfriendly or hostile towards the creature it is being misdirected into attacking. For creatures that don’t have Challenge Ratings, such as player characters, use a DC of 10 + (2 × the creature’s HD). This is a swift action mind-affecting ability with a range of 60 ft.
  
• Silent Departure (Su): So much time spent slipping in and out of challenging places has given the delver a real knack for the necessary tools. He gains the Distance Stride spell speed, although he may not use the Unlimited range option with the seed. If he casts a spell using only this seed and no other, it has no verbal or somatic components.
  

EYES OF NIGHT [GENERAL]
Your vision in the darkest night is far better than anyone expects.
Prerequisites: 1st level only, Perception 4
Benefit: You gain darkvision and low-light vision out to 60 ft.

Text

Becoming a Speedster
Text

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Feats: Time’s Quickness, Chronological Manipulator
Skills: Knowledge (History) 6, Athletics 6
Slices: 2nd level
Special: Must be able to slice Chronological Acceleration

Table 1: The Speedster
Hit Die: d8

Level  BAB   Ref  Fort  Will  Abilities                                          Slicer           
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
1      +1    +0   +2    +2    Deceleration                                       ---
2      +2    +0   +3    +3    Acceleration                                       +1 Slicer Level   
3      +3    +1   +3    +3    Quickness                                          +1 Slicer Level   
4      +4    +1   +4    +4    Excess                                             +1 Slicer Level   
5      +5    +1   +4    +4    Fleetness Eternal                                  ---


Class Skills
The Speedster's class skills are: Acrobatics (Dex), Athletics (Str), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Chronomancy, History) (Int), Mentalism (Int), Perception (Wis), Stealth (Dex)
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier per level.

Class Features
Text

Slices: At each indicated level, the Speedster increases in slicer level and slices known as if he had also gained a level in whatever slicing class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, class features, and so on).

Deceleration (Su): If an enemy tries to step on you, dodge. Whenever an enemy successfully hits you in combat, you may slice chronological acceleration at them as a free action, if you have not expended it.

Acceleration (Su): If you don't stay one step ahead of your enemies, they step on you. Whenever you successfully strike an enemy with a weapon, you recover the chronological acceleration slice if it is expended.

Quickness (Su): You add chronological alteration to your slices known as a bonus slice. When using your Acceleration and Deceleration abilities, you may choose to use either chronological acceleration or chronological alteration.

Excess (Su): While under the forward effect of chronological acceleration or chronological alteration, you gain one extra attack at your highest base attack bonus.

Fleetness Eternal (Su): You may slice chronological acceleration once per round as a free action, regardless of if it is expended or not.


CHRONOLOGICAL MANIPULATOR [CHRONO]
As someone who is both stable and unstable in time, you have the ability to manipulate your own temporal flow with ease.
Prerequisites: Time’s Quickness
Benefit: You add chronological acceleration to your slices known as a bonus slice. If you do not have any levels in a slicing class, treat your slicer level as one half your character level. You can still recover it as described in the chronomancy rules. You may expend chronological acceleration before rolling initiative if you have it readied to gain a +4 bonus on that roll.

CHRONOLOGICAL IMPACT [CHRONO]
The strikes from your weapon rapidly age the area around the wound, causing excess damage
Prerequisites: Must be able to create 2nd level slices, base attack bonus +3
Benefit: Before declaring your attacks for the round, you may expend a slice you have available to use. If you do, all subsequent attacks in that round deal an extra 1d4 damage per level of the slice.

INTRODUCTION
Magic is a strange thing in the lands of Arhosa. Once, it would have been considered all of a piece, a single whole of slightly disparate but otherwise homogeneous behavior. Now, it has broken apart into tens of competing factions, if not hundreds. Now, when one meets a man on the street who says he is a mage, the next question one must ask him is what tenets he follows, and, if he answers wrong, slay him. For that is how the talented of Arhosa greet one another in this day and age: with curses, anger, hatred, and violence.

Arhosa has always been a violent place, a land where might most certainly has made right. But it has also been a land where the violent used their skills in that direction to promote unity, to promote the growth and prospering of riches and wealth. Foremost amongst those was the Llethu, a race of near-giants who, although lacking in the traditional graces of magic, more than made up for their untalented children with brilliant strategists, silver-tongued diplomats, and warriors of unsurpassed skill. But above all, it was their utilization of the teleport gates that dotted Arhosa that gave them their greatest advantage. Thus were Arhosa's greatest strategists granted access to unbelievable feats of logistics, a capability that they were to abuse time and again as they conquered their empire.

What resulted, after the bloodshed and the dying had time to fade into the distant past, was a flowering of civilization the likes of which had never before been seen upon this dreary continent. Cities all across the land, linked by all-but-free teleportation and run by administrators trained in the most admirable of styles, flourished as never before. And with the free exchange of people and goods came the free exchange of ideas, and no guild took more advantage of that than the wizards, for they wished to delve deep into the secrets of magic, to use their freedom and wealth to find such powers as had never before been dreamed. And in the security of their rich existence, the Llethu gave to them that freedom.

Much to the disappoint of the wizards, who had believed that magic flourished in the world all around them, and could be drawn from it at will, they found that magic was granted by but a single god: Lledrith. To the arcanes, this was the greatest of errors, for the world could simply not work in such a way. Lledrith, passive god that he was, smiled and laughed at the error of his children, but left them to their own petty researches.

What occurred to wizards and priests alike was that in a world where there was one god who could be named and discovered, there were likely more, and so, as the empire of Arhosa flourished, the wisest of the scholars poured over ancient texts, hidden archives, and cast a great many spells, all in search of knowledge. And, eventually, that was what they found, for Lledrith was no solitary creator. Rather, he was not even the greatest of the gods.

At that revelation, the clerics and priests and other assorted believers splintered into various factions, each one holding their own tenants highest. The arcanes laughed at their petty politics, so childish and foolish did it seem. But to a number of the wisest scholars, there had occurred another thought – that if one god was able to grant magics to those who begged for his assistance, perhaps the others were capable of such acts as well.

And so was born in secret dungeons, hidden laboratories, distant towers, and concealed caverns a race amongst the learned, each one seeking a way to propitiate a different god. The first to be approached in this manner was Drancedigaeth, god of death, for to please him simply required the slaying of an appropriate creature, no doubt. What the mages had not counted on was the sheer indifference Drancedigaeth gave to the insignificant mortals who died and filled his realms. Compared to the span of time and space that was his to oversee, the death of a single creature was not even worth a glance.

But eventually, enough sacrificed to him to attract his notice. And when Drancedigaeth noticed, he felt his power increase, for the lands of his kingdom swelled as life, precious life, flowed through the gates of death and was locked away there. And so, he began to parcel out minuscule helpings of magic in return, appropriate to the measure of what was granted him. Thus was ritual magic born.

Other gods granted to their worshippers powers befitting their station upon seeing the example that Drancedigaeth had wrought, and thus were born the magics of runecarving, chronomancy, spellsong and others.

And for years, all of the gods were content with such an arrangement. Until Lledrith felt weakened, and looked again in detail at the world, and realized that what had once been his and his alone was now the plaything of all the gods, but Drancedigaeth most of all. He grew vengeful, and approached his compatriot to ask for recompense, only to be rebuffed by a god already his superior in power. In spite and malice, Lledrith turned the tables about, and invented the realm of the undead. No longer would all souls pass into the kingdom of Drancedigaeth. Some, now, would come to Lledrith. And those that did, why, when they slew the living they would gift those souls to Lledrith once more. The last of the great magics, necromancy, had come into being.

This war amongst the gods soon became a war upon the fields of Arhosa, for Lledrith and Drancedigaeth influenced their clerics and priests one against the other, and from that diplomacy of daggers and lies came outright warfare. Other gods and kingdoms were dragged into the conflict, and soon a land that had once been a great, rich, empire broke apart, a hundred warring kingdoms becoming a thousand, and then ten thousand.

And magic, once a single, beautiful, whole, was now a disparate ruin of factionalism, brutal demands, and internecine conflict. Thus were born the scrolls of Arhosa. Today, they are all but vanished, for although the gods would dearly love each of their powers to be considered foremost, all but a few kingdoms have lost the knowledge, ideas and wisdom buried beneath centuries of hatred, bigotry, and murder.

But that does not stop each of the gods plotting the return of their own power, seeding the knowledge to the best of their abilities amongst those most amenable to their craft. And one day, knowledge long thought lost might burst into the harsh light of day once more.

The Arhosa Campaign Setting is a custom and long-running world that completely replaces the standard Dungeons and Dragons classes with new and unique designs that fill old roles in new ways, as well as attempting to ensure a more equitable power balance between those on the martial and magic sides of the divide. The mechanical design of the setting is wrapped in the life of a fantasy continent, once almost entirely ruled by the old Arhosan Empire, now a fragmented mass of small kingdoms and tribal societies, many of them living among the ruins of their far-greater forefathers. Above all of this swirls the undying hatred of two gods, each having directly opposed themselves to the other and staked their claims to the future of all Arhosa.

THE WORLD
The fantasy world of Arhosa is a place of magic and monsters, where arcane energy infused the Arhosan Empire and greatly influenced society and industry. Thanks to a mastery of the arcane arts, skycities flew high above the Hanian lands, gates sent goods and people across the world in the blink of an eye, races were birthed by mortal hand, and deep underground, a slave kingdom of the undead came to be.

But much of that is in the past. For the world of high-flying arcane blessings has crumbled, torn apart from within by greed, by strife, and above all by impetus from the gods themselves. Where once there was a solid empire, stretching from one corner of Arhosa to the next and ruled over by the conquering yet noble Llethu giants, now there is a patchwork quilt of squabbling clans, tribes, and holds, with large stretches of ruins or emptiness in the spaces between. There are pockets of civilization, held steady amongst peoples too resilient, too strong, or too distant to be caught in the disruption that shattered the Arhosan empire, but they are few and far between, although they still hold beacons high in a world otherwise cloaked in darkness.

Travel between regions is sparse, the spaces between the civilized areas dangerous and bleak, populated by anything from bandits to wild animals to whole peoples who never felt the yolk of civilization. But more than anything else, what lies beneath the tension of the world is the duel of the gods, Lledrith and Drancedigaeth, Magic and Death. Each has secret schemes to force the overthrow of the other, and their operatives and priests move as commanded, hither and yon, each served in their own way by decay on a massive scale. As the gods race one another to see who profits off of the destruction of Arhosa, only a brave few can seek to reverse the course the world now lies upon.

THE DESIGN
From a mechanical point of view, only classes designed explicitly for the Arhosa Campaign Setting are allowed, and the same can be said for races and a large portion of other material. This is in order to both keep with the unique flavor of the setting, but also to ensure that all of the classes are roughly balanced. For those players familiar with the tier system, the goal is for all Arhosan classes to exist at a Tier 3 level, until approximately 15th level, at which point abilities begin to spiral upwards. This is because, much like Eberron, play in the Arhosa Campaign Setting is intended to run from 1st level up until approximately 13th. While there can be campaigns that carry beyond that limit, the material herein is aimed at the described levels, with a large number of the prestige classes being finishable by a character between their 6th and 10th levels.

Magical equipment is more restricted and higher cost in the Arhosa setting, but easier to craft, reflecting both the desire to allow characters who wish to go down the path of building their own items access to it, but also the belief that the focus should be on the character and what he or she is, rather than the magic items that he is carrying. This general focus on the character and their specific abilities is why there are so many options available as base classes with unique and varied strengths. Along that vein, although multiclassing is by no means discouraged in Arhosa, each of the base classes is designed in such a way as to allow a fully valid character from levels 1-20 without the need to create a class salad.

In order to accomplish the above, the way in which both magic and martial combat operate has been completely redesigned, both to utilize point-based systems allowing either access to player-designed maneuvers or spells. In addition, there are a number of supplemental books such as Tome of Ritual Magic, Stone and Symbol, Vivisection and Resurrection, and Magics of Arhosa that grant new and unique powers for characters spanning the spectrum from undead necromancers to holy martyrs and all those in between.

Because of the wide-ranging abilities and design decisions taken as part of the creation of the Arhosa Campaign Setting, some of the content will require access to material from Dungeons and Dragons sourcebooks published by Wizards of the Coast, although this has been kept to a minimum, and the world is completely playable with no other book.

TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Every Dungeon Master and player needs to know and remember these facts about the world of Arhosa.

1. IT'S UNIQUE
Arhosa is built to be its own unique beast. Unless a piece of rules text references or requires an ability from the base books (such as a prestige class requiring Power Attack or an ability granting spells with the Darkness descriptor), the playable content from the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide does not exist. The only except to this is items, which carry over intact but highly modified, as discussed in the new Craft skill.

2. TONE AND ATTITUDE
The campaign can be played in a number of ways, but is generally of a darker and grimmer world-view than traditional D&D. This is a place where the supreme powers vying for control are Death and Undeath, each racing the other for supreme authority. And while other gods have power and resist the decline, they are either not strong enough or not interested enough to reverse what is happening, and this imbalance bleeds over into how characters view the world. 

Because of this, alignments and affiliations are relative gauges of a character or creature's viewpoint, and not absolute barometers. A priest of death may well keep someone alive one day, and then help kill them the next. Likewise, tribal barbarians may well be kind, and Living Sun Wardens ruthless and cruel.

3. MAGIC IS EVERYWHERE AND DIVINE
Arhosa, for all that it is a world on the decline, is infused by magic, with each culture often having its own access to a source of power, and an affiliation with the deity who grants that power. Whether this is the direct access to the divine that ecclesiasts call upon, the powers of the earth itself that are the realm of the runecarvers, or the twisted and foul gifts granted to the necromancers by Lledrith, magic is a part of daily life, and well known to be granted by the gods above.

4. ADVENTURE FOR ALL
From the urban realm of Setras Ra to the crashed skycities and barren lands of Hania, from the sandblasted desert of Pybyr Vestana to the deep underground realm of Marleath, Arhosa is a world of adventure. Adventures can and should draw heroes from one location to another across the world of Arhosa, perhaps by horse, perhaps by foot, or perhaps by restoring the fabled teleport gates and teleporting from place to place. Wherever they start, the close of one phase of adventure should open another, letting the players roam across the face of Arhosa.

5. THERE IS NO PEACE
While the turbulent fighting and rebellion that ended the great Arhosan Empire are theoretically over, the world is by no means stable. Races such as the Yn Gyntaf and the Llethu vie for their place in the sun, Tandda fight Tokunnir, Marleath stirs and begins its ponderous march towards the surface, and bandits squabble and raid everything. Even the once formidable War Lands of the Cynddeir are now beset by outside forces, their military might a pale corpse of what it once was.

6. THE ONCE-DOMINANT
The Llethu giants who ruled the Arhosan empire still exist today, although their reach is severely diminished and the nobility that made them the popular conquerors that they were has long since faded. The grand city of Setras Ra, once capital of their empire, still exists, although its beauty has been diminished without the funds to keep it whole. Many of the giants have returned to their tribal roots, little more than the noble savages they were when they first swept out of the mountains.

7. DEATH IN THE SHADOWS
Although not an overt conflict, the shadows of Arhosa hold a great threat to the safety of all. Marleath, a secret kingdom spawned deep beneath the ground in darkened caverns by Lledrith’s new magic, is his hidden weapon with which to break Drancedigaeth’s power. So far, it has made no moves against the surface world, but the undead hordes of Ve Angau have grown stronger while those who must prevent its unforeseen arrival have grown weaker.

8. ARHOSAN BORN
Arhosa is a new realm, and populated by never-before seen races designed exclusively for this setting, but that doesn’t mean players haven’t seen their like. Biyou are a caste-driven race of lizardmen, skilled in the arcane arts but brutal harsh on their servants. Flonha are gifted with a magical talent for healing, one that follows them regardless of what life path they follow. Hanians are the humans of the Arhosan setting, but with a talent for magic, especially the magic of flight, rarely seen before. Llethu are, despite their physical size, leaders with excellent Charisma and the ability to inspire those around them. Pybyr are the most versatile of races, born of the desert but able to turn their hand to any and all tasks. Finally, the Yn Gyntaf, the fleet-footed rulers of the plains, untouched by the fall of Arhosa and still living as they always have.

9. GODS ABOVE
The gods of Arhosa are a small collection, each holding a vast array of power and distributing it to their followers. For much of the life of Arhosa, the primary gods as seen by the mortals of the world were Lledrith and Hannhangnefedd, god of war. Others watched over Arhosa, but were content with their place. Now, with the conflict growing ever stronger, each has thrown their hat into the ring, in the hopes of either saving or damning the people of Arhosa, although the impact of several of the gods doing so is currently minimal, having not had the time to distribute their powers widely.

10. SKILLS ABOUND
Arhosa does not use the normal skills of the traditional D&D world, having combined and reordered many of them so that there are less skills, but more useful. In addition to this, there are a number of new skills designed to make using that category overall more impactful on the campaign world, and more interesting for characters to invest in.

ONWARD!
The great civilization of Arhosa persisted for over one thousand years, a monument to the strength and the power of the bureaucracy that imbued the empire, more powerful than even the emperors that ruled over the vast land. A beautiful, fair, and prosperous terrain graced the kingdom, marking it as the chosen land on earth.

Until one day the bureaucracy began to fail, the emperors weakened and became vain, and nobles within the land focused on their own gain and their own wealth, and let those around them fall into ruin. The empire split apart, each little village, town and city becoming its own kingdom, able only to claim the lands within a day's march of their center. Armies devolved and bandits grew, and the best of those claimed their own kingdoms, cutting out baronies by capturing villages, demanding tribute, and marking the land and as their own.

That state persists today, and the land is a broken ruin, for the temples, the roads, the books, the knowledge that marked the high point of the culture of Arhosa, all are slowly being lost and eroded. The castles that marked and ruled the land are occupied, but as often those residents are ghosts and crickets as they are nobles and servants. Populations have crashed, plagues sweeping across the land wiping out towns and villages, famine now a danger where once it was a remote memory, staved off by copious grain reserves. Today those silos stand empty, collapsed and hollow, mold climbing the walls where wheat used to feed thousands.

It is into this desiccated world that you have been born, a world drained of all the great things in life. Perhaps it is possible to restore Arhosa to glory, to recreate the empire and the knowledge and the life that once occurred. Or perhaps there is a life to be made in this new land, taking for yourselves a kingdom and a rulership, passing it down to your children, or even create a new empire, a land remade in your image. All of these things are possible, and Arhosa is open to you.

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