Necro Portal Role-Playing Game and Book of Lore: The Goddess of Portals and the Daughters of Venom

Climbing for what seems and eternity up bone-cobbled steps, you arrive at the archway to the necromancer's portal. There upon a pedestal rests the crystal skull of Malaar the sage. As you reach out for it with greedy hands, you detect the presence of evil on the steps behind you!

Welcome, adventurers and looters of evil relics! 

Nine Portals RPG (9PRPG) has released series after series of RPG books since 2009 for Amazon Kindle. We're thrilled to release this shortened manual on the lore of the Goddess of Portals, and the various necro portal constructs, spells, and characters for role play and fantasy adventure hobbyists.

The portals to the underworld of the necromancy elite have opened! Long before the rise of King Futharion of Gaia Saar, and even before the time when mighty Alu and Gygatherion hefted the brimstone framework of the first fire portals in primordial earth, there was a feud between the gods which shook the fabric of the universe.

In this publication of Necro Portal RPG: The Goddess of Portals, we digest the lore of the ancient necromancers, and delve deep into the legendary God Wars long before the universe was blessed with life.

A slew of devices, constructs, portals, and new spells for the necromancer elite is included for your role-playing enjoyment.

The infinite void is the ultimate potential for creation, manifestation, and the birth of new universes. Of all universes none is so dreadfully feared by the mortal races than the infamous Necroverse. 

The Necroverse exists as a quasi universe, a sort of virtual world laid over the realm of the dead. In this verse the necromancers elite reigns supreme. However, this Necroverse is not independent of other worlds. Rather, all mortal realms provide the necessary foundation for which the Necroverse is built upon. 

Spanning infinite realms of man and beast is a network of portals which allow for the necromancers  to enter and exit the lands of the living at will. Hidden in the tombs of kings or in the shunned necropolises or in the graveyards of modern cities are the gates to the Necroverse. 

In a quasi-universe existing between the world of the living and the dead, the order of the D'Hern rise from their cryptic portals to seize the realms of man for their own ends.

Necro portals are truly the most exciting portals in the 9Portals universe. With necro portals we are able to create complex and in-depth adventures revolving around many of the shunned places in the realms. Networks of portals can be plotted across graveyards, cemeteries, ancient temples, abandoned citadels or ruins, and ancient battlefields forsaken.

Below is an old excerpt from the manuscript for Necro Portal RPG. The book has been revised, and is now available on Amazon Kindle. 

Necro Portal 

By Thomas P. Walton

2016

Prepared by Thomas Walton for Nine Portals RPG

The infinite void is the ultimate potential for creation, manifestation, and the birth of new universes. Of all universes none is so dreadfully feared by the mortal races than the infamous Necroverse. 

The Necroverse exists as a quasi universe, a sort of virtual world laid over the realm of the dead. In this verse the necromancers elite reigns supreme. However, this Necroverse is not independent of other worlds. Rather, all mortal realms provide the necessary foundation for which the Necroverse is built upon. 

Spanning infinite realms of man and beast is a network of portals which allow for the necromancers  to enter and exit the lands of the living at will. Hidden in the tombs of kings or in the shunned necropolises or in the graveyards of modern cities are the gates to the Necroverse. 

In this infamous volume, we will explore the realm of mankind's most dreaded enemy, the undead. As a matter of course, this tome of evil fantasy will serve as a manual for game masters to map the Necroverse, plot necro portals in strategic locations, and route teleportation across various maps. 

The peak of your darkest fantasy gaming experience is limited only by your imagination. 

The Lore of Necro Portals

From the essential salt of the dead, a mixture of stone, bone, and sometimes various metals, are combined to create the arch for the entrance to the infamous realm of the undead wizards. The Necroverse must feed from the world of the living, or its magical framework will collapse into the world of the true dead. 

Once there existed the great kingdom of Gaia Saar, which was ruled by the wise and gifted seer King Futharion. It was in the south peninsula of Futharion's kingdom where the necromancers first revealed themselves to the men of Gaia Saar. This peninsula was named Talos. In ancient Talos the wizards of Alu guarded a wealth of ancient knowledge concerning the portals of the original and primordial world before Futharion's ancestry set a throne upon Gaia Saar. The vorpal technology of lord Gygatherion, Futharion's father, was the very power which destroyed the cyborg invaders of Emperor Veximus. However, the interruption of a new player on the battlefield destroyed the entire world. That player was the necromancers elite. 

Linear or Cyclical/ Orbital Portals for RPG

"Charge in! Break down dungeon doors! Or, seek ancient enigmas across thresholds! Linear/orbital RPG routers are different devices for different campaigns!" 

Create linear maps to run encounters in sequence. Employ linear maps for RPG adventures wherein the campaign must follow a set course of events.

Use orbital (cyclical) maps for role-playing where the universe is a far more complex array of dynamic events, spectacular interdimensional battles, and in the use of portals between numerous maps. 

If your player characters set out on a fantasy adventure quest which requires moving between maps frequently, then chances are you are running a campaign with multiple portals. A linear map is too stringent, and is intended for a low level reference map, say a kingdom or a city. The orbital map is your best friend as the game master in this situation of events, encounters, plot, and so on. 

Implement numerous maps into your role playing game by linking high and low level maps through a documented matrix of portals. 

Read Portals Manual...

 http://www.amazon.com/Portals-Manual-Nine-RPG-Supplements-ebook/dp/B019W34GXW/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Traditional RPG Portals Vs. Dynamic Elemental Portals

Read PORTALS MANUAL to empower your games with portals, and expand your repertoire in game mastering with multiple dimensional constructs. Add over 40 portals of power to your bag of tricks. Implement new vorpal weaponry in your arsenal. Inscribe new Necro elite spells into your tome of power! 

Portals—whether they function traditionally or dynamically—play an important part in the process of storytelling for role-playing games.

You detect a slight draft in the south junction of the temple, and in an alcove at the south-east corner of the oratory you can see a faint beam of light touch the head of Abraxar upon the altar of Arathor.

Typically, a game master will decide on whether to make a portal visible or to merely hint at the presence of a portal. The decision to make a portal obvious may have everything or nothing to do with the sequences of events and encounters that the game master has planned out for players. Yet, making this distinction between the obvious and elusive portal is the craft of the cunning game master. (The process of declaring a portal is predetermined in the master control document, or it may be annotated on the portals router with a simple hash mark or other indicator of the game master’s preference). Players who can see a portal may be tempted to enter the portal without having a better look around the environment. Perhaps, keeping the portal in the shadows will allow for a more likely encounter with pursuers coming up the rampart on the heels of the players.

 There are myriad reasons to consider forehand the nature of portals when plotting a router. A closed in arena, for instance, may have portals of particular elemental nature, and perhaps even a diabolic or necro portal. Warping from other elemental planes, or smashing through the locks and guards across the galaxy, monsters emerge from four towering portals (rolling d20) they attack!

In essence, portals are traditionally considered a magical passageway through space/ time between two places. For the most part, this default is largely agreed upon. Dynamic portals, however, greatly enhance the overall richness of fantasy-adventure storytelling.

Fundamentally, dynamic portals are constructs of magic which are deeply rooted in ancient lore or elemental properties. To make more sense of such diversity in portals, the entire portal system is divided into a hierarchy of greater and lesser gates.

The archetypal portals, those portals which existed in the beginning of the physical universe, are classified as Greater Portals or primordial portals. Within the category of the greater portals are the primary portals (ice/ fire/ water/ air), secondary portals (metal/ poison/ gas/ necro), and the one ultimate portal (earth).

Lesser portals are those portals which are in common use, namely variants of the traditional portal. These portals include, but are not limited to, the following categories: chaos, techno, and supernatural.

The greatest exception, and by far the most diverse of portals, is the chaos portal. While chaos portals are considered lesser portals, the power of such portals is unbound by the laws of order.

high level w/ portals both hidden and visible, by Thomas P. Walton

This means that chaos portals do not heed any laws of the greater elemental portals, and can be used to move from anyplace on one map to anyplace on the same map or any other map.

Chaos portals can act as a conduit between realms of extreme opposites, or simply teleport a wizard from his front door to the local tavern on the same map.

Diversity in portals procures consequences in game play, particularly for the player characters. There are as many mutations and psychological effects from some portals as there are various gifts and experience points awarded or bestowed upon player characters (See the original Portal Master’s Guide [Gui de Mestre Portal]).

Portals also present solutions to problems. Consider their myriad uses.

A necro portal, for instance, may act as a gateway to the deceased spirits with knowledge of hidden treasure rooms.

Mylia places the urn containing the ashes and bone of bygone king Ashram on the alter before a 9’ black mirror standing in the center of the chamber. A smoky mist rises from the urn, and without warning a grim and ancient face forms on the black mirror. Aritole pores over a book written in an arcane language, when his cry of “ah-hah!” startles everyone. “I’ve found the name of the long dead steward of Kryarthenon!”

While the necro portal in this example merely summons the souls of the dead into a vessel, there are far other uses for necromancy in role-playing adventures. For instance, the infamous necromancer elite has been building a series of doors between strategic areas for an undead strike on the town of Caladrake or some other realm.

portal router sample, Thomas P. Walton

A portal router will help the game master keep track of where undead emerge from, and where the players can travel to other maps, and so on.

Portals in most games are merely the pinnacle between dimensions, or the threshold between two separate places. In the Nine Portals universe such portals are the conduits of the gods, maintained by the elusive fiery spirits of the netherworld.



To be continued...

Relevant books:
Portal Master's Guide - 1st edition

Ultimate Portal Master's Guide

Book of Doors RPG