Dark Avenger
by Dr.Disaster & Lord Marcus

Class: Any
Tag: Varies
DAK = Male fighter
DAV = Female fighter
DAP = Magic user

Introduction

Lord Marcus and I have finished the development of our RPG subclass called Dark Avenger. It requires quite a portion of RPG experience by its player and is also very much in the grey area, a thing we both missed from the other variants.

The idea for this Diablo subclass is taken from the German paper-and-pencil-RPG "Midgard". For those of you who are familiar with this great RPG and want more details: check out Gildenbrief 23 for information about the valian empire, their godess of death and the five ways to worship her.

Some may call these rules a bit odd or tough but that's the price if you are blessed by a god.

The Dark Avenger is, lets say, a very special paladin or priest. He always follows the guidelines of his faith and his goddess. He is a good choice as a RPG-character because interaction with his fellow adventurers could be vital for survival.

In common for DA's the rules are the same as for the paladin. He aids his comrades at all cost, he goes into battle at first rank and only retreats when things get really out of hand and the like. But there are also some real different rules because he follows Culsu the goddess of death and his faith can be described in short like this:

- The peace of the dead must be kept at all costs, even if you lose your own life!
- People who do not respect the dead and the living are chosen victims of Culsu!

For those who are not of the faith follows a more detailed explanation of godly law. These must be obeyed at all cost and when this means to harm your comrades ... do it!

Other than paladins, who are just a sort of holy warriors, Dark Avengers can be male or female or even those of the arcane arts. There is no difference if death is brought to the forsaken ones by the blow of a war hammer or the call for godly power. Male warrior DA's are entitled Knights and are prone to add {DAK} to their names. Female warrior DA's are so called Valkyries and wear {DAV} as their sign. Finally the magic user DA represents the Priest and shows this by a {DAP} tag to others.

Turamarth's Message

Hail to all those who are willing to listen!

My name is Turamarth and I am a priest from the re-founded Order of Culsu, a small group of adventurers that have been chosen by the Goddess to enforce her will among the land. After my victory over the Dark Lord i have come to this place to seek out more brave souls that could be willing to join us in our holy quests. I will now tell you everything that you need to know to become a follower of the true faith.

The Laws of Culsu

Law #1
Ensure that all undead creatures are brought back into the one blessed state of existence, because undead have been raised by dark powers to insult the god of death.

Always clear church and cats and slay all undead before you venture into caves or hell!

Law #2
Never ever disturb the peace of the dead. They have finally done their sacred journey into the realms of death and therefore must not be harmed.

All sarcophagus in the cathedral must remain closed!!! Barrels may be smashed. If an undead rises from the barrel the poor creature is a hunted soul seeking salvation from it's once committed sins, hence its dishonorable burial.

Law #3
Never ever pillage the dead or their belongings. There is no greater sin to steal the few things the dead have for their afterlife.

All chests in church and cats must remain closed! Treasures from Barrels may be collected. All chests in caves or hell contain treasure stolen by inhuman beings and are yours to take.

Law #4
If you ever encounter a dead body that has not been buried it is a call upon your honor that you must not leave him without a prayer and a gift to ease his journey into the realms of death.

All decapitated bodies everywhere must remain unharmed. A Guardian must be cast beside it (or a Guardian scroll dropped here if you can't cast the spell yet) and a gift of dungeon level*1000 gold has to be placed beside that poor soul. (Gold gift = Dlvl x 1000)

Law #5
Never ever resurrect or let anybody resurrect a slain adventurer. Your god decided that his time on this world is over and he should only return if his own god calls for him again. Let him rest in peace.

Resurrection is forbidden!!! Your fellow adventurers may restart in town with his god's help, though you cannot. If anybody resurrects your dead friend even if you told them "Don't do it. Keep the peace of the dead." you first bring back death to your resurrected friend and then to the resurrecting comrade who now has also become a "cursed soul".

Law #6
Never ever let anybody resurrect you. Your god finally granted you as one of his most trusted servants the honor to join him in the realms of death. If ever anybody tears you from his side back into the world of the living your one and only quest is to bring the wrath of your god upon that bastard, no matter how many lives it takes! Your god's power will be with you!

Once dead you stay dead; at least for the running game and even if you have been PKed or MKed! You may either start/join another game with your character or do it like ironman-style (delete and recreate), that's your personal choice. But dead means DEAD: NO restart in town! Well, if somebody has REALLY got the balls to resurrect you, he becomes a "cursed soul." Show no mercy until he leaves the game!

Law #7
Whenever you encounter an adventurer that violates your faith he is obviously a non-believer. It is one of your highest depths to teach him respect for the dead and your faith. So use your charisma and really try to talk into him to show him his shame-like behavior. If he continues to ignore you this is the true evidence that you are now on your holiest quest: to kill that guy by all means possible 'cause your god want's to bring judgement upon him in the afterworld!

If anybody fails your god-given laws: First talk! Really talk! No one shall die of ignorance!
If this does not work: Kill him once, grant him to restart in town and wait.
If this still does not work: Kill that now "cursed soul" until it leaves the game.
A known PK is always considered a "cursed soul."

Law #8
Whenever you re-encounter an adventurer that has became a "cursed soul" in former meetings and obviously escaped your gods wrath it is your holy quest to hunt and slay him until he is cleansed. If you are not powerful enough to bring and keep him in the one blessed state of existence, you are encouraged to seek out other Dark Avengers to aid you in your quest. Keep those dead that deserve death!

Once an adventurer became a "cursed soul" by violating your laws he will have a very hard time with you! The only way an adventurer can shake off the status of "cursed soul" is to kill THEMSELF in front of a Dark Avenger and leave the game. If the now uncursed soul reappears in another game of a Dark Avenger he must obey the Dark Avenger's words or he will be a "cursed soul" again.

A Dark Avenger who ever fails one of this rules ONLY ONCE, even by accident, MUST immediately drop ALL his belongings and face the wrath of his god! He must pass NAKED through church and cats, slay BAREHANDED every undead he encounters and exit the dungeon by the stairs in caves. If he survives this punishment with ONLY the healing and mana he finds his god will be pleased and his failure forgiven. He then may gather his belongings and be again called a honorable warrior of god. If he dies ... see law #6. Addendum: If a Dark Avenger fails to keep a chest closed he may purify himself by leaving a donation of dungeon-level*100 gold beside that chest or a nearby Ornate shrine. (Purification donation = Dlvl x 100)

If he does not follow this last chance of honor he will be an outcast from this day forth until all eternity. All true Dark Avengers are required by their god and their code of honor to hunt down the betrayer.

Items

Dark Avengers can use any equipment as long as it is not demonic by nature like cursed gear or the Demonspike Coat. Of course they try to get anything that is blessed by godly power like paladins do. Alas there are some exceptions too...

The King's prefix on weapons, the Godly prefix on Armor/Helm/Shield and the Royal Circlet are prohibited until the Dark Avenger proves his worthiness by entering the golden ranks of victory (3 dots).

Since one of their prime rules is to slay the undead, Dark Avengers use blunt weapons, staves, or axes. They NEVER use sword-like weapons or a bow not even for learning/equipping purposes.

Although each Dark Avenger's quest is to chase any undead and "cursed souls" to their death, they don't want them to suffer more than necessary. Therefore a Dark Avenger tries to get at least one damage modifier of the Master's/Champion's/King's, Savage/Ruthless/Merciless, or Gore/Carnage/Slaughter series; or two if possible. An attack speed modifier is ONLY valid if it gives a higher overall-damage per second (use Jarulf's Guide to calc this out). So, for example, a Dark Avenger would almost always choose a Merciless Flail of Slaughter instead of a Master's Club of Haste.

Spells

Each Dark Avenger has to learn the art of healing, the healing of others, the Guardian and especially the Holy Bolt as high and as fast as possible to aid his brothers in arms, pray for those poor slain souls without a grave and lay any undead to rest. This means that each Ornate shrine must be touched until Holy Bolt reaches maximum. For all other shrines, except Fascinating, it depends on the Dark Avenger's choice.

If the Dark Avenger chooses to use more magic he may learn and/or use

- Each spell that protects or does no damage at all: Identify, Infravision, Town Portal, Telekinesis, Stone Curse, Mana Shield, Phasing, Teleport
- Each spell that calls the power of death to slay the enemies of his gods choice: Flash, Bone Spirit, Elemental, Flame Wave, Charged Bolt, Chain Lightning, Nova, Golem, Apocalypse

All other spells that inflict directly aimed damage like Firebolt or Lightning are prohibited because they do not reflect the wish of your god to bring death to the chosen target.

In summary...

Holy Bolt, Healing, Heal Other, and Guardian must be learned. Holy Bolt must be maxed out as fast as possible, even if that means using Ornate Shrines.

Identify, Infravision, Town Portal, Telekinesis, Stone Curse, Mana Shield, Phasing, Teleport, Flash, Bone Spirit, Elemental, Flame Wave, Charged Bolt, Chain Lightning, Nova, Golem, and Apocalypse may be learned and used.

Firebolt, Inferno, Resurrect, Fire Wall, Lightning, Fireball, and Blood Star must NEVER be learned or used. Dark Avengers should never be resurrected or allow anyone around them to be resurrected.

How to become one of the Faith

Any young adventurer (clvl 1) willing to accept these godgiven laws have to pass an initial test. They are encouraged to seek out the Order of Culsu and show their motives to join in. If he/she is considered a possible candidate he/she will be given a certain place and time when and where the Test will be done with the guidance of a respected member of the Order.

The Test
Clear Church and Cats by the Laws of Culsu. The respected Dark Avenger will aid the candidate with Heal Other and Guardian (only as prayer for slain townsfolk).

The Goal
Exit the dungeon using the stairs that lead up from the caves.

The Gift
All candidates that have past the test and achieved the goal are presented with a Book of Guardian as welcome Gift to the Order of Culsu.

Complete the Test by Culsu's Laws and reach the Goal to gain the Gift of Membership!