TEXT: Series Guide
  Series Guide
  
  T
  he shadows grow long, the night is cold, and dark power flows to 
  those with dark intentions. Earth has plunged headfirst into the 
  NetherWar, and no one even knows they’re fighting for their lives.
  Ever since he first discovered the lost Temple of Sirrion, Adrian Eldrich 
  has protected Earth-Prime from the wicked forces that covet the world. 
  The mantle of Master Mage—granted to him by ancient spirits of At-
  lantean mages—was thrust upon him as a desperate reaction to pow-
  erful dark magics that had begun to fester in the shadows of the world 
  following the death of Master Mage Lady Violet Pennyworth over 40 
  years earlier. He tamed evil wizards, elemental forces, demons, gods, 
  and powerful Dark Lords—the Master Mages of other dimensions 
  whose greed and corruption twisted them into malignant reflections. 
  And eight years ago, without cause or fanfare, he died.
  The power and responsibility of Master Mage passed quietly to El-
  drich’s apprentice, the young witch Seven. Within weeks, Seven was 
  tested against Eldrich’s ultimate foe: Una the Unrelenting, Dark Lord 
  of the Netherworld. With Eldrich gone, all the contracts he brokered 
  on Earth-Prime’s behalf expired, including the fateful deal that kept 
  the omniverse’s most powerful sorcerer from conquering Earth! Una 
  invaded, tricking the role of Master Mage out of Seven’s grasp, and 
  imposing her own malignant will upon Earth’s magic. Seven eventu-
  ally defeated the Dark Lord, consuming her entirely in a blast of pri-
  mordial magic, but by ancient decree she inherited Una’s empire and 
  title. Unlike Earth-Prime, Una’s Netherworld and the 999 worlds she 
  had conquered were shattered wraiths, held together by magic and 
  willpower rather than the laws of physics. Without a Dark Lord, Una’s 
  empire would literally crumble and cast untold billions of lives into the 
  void. Unable to let the masses perish, Seven reluctantly accepted this 
  new responsibility, and left Earth-Prime behind.
  And the mantle of the Master Mage has remained unclaimed ever 
  since, leaving Earth-Prime unguarded from evil supernatural influence 
  and conspiracy.
  Just as it had before Eldrich was called, dark magic has begun to flex it-
  self and reach deep into the world of Earth-Prime. Spirits offer corrupt-
  ing deals to the easily tempted, demons embrace dark souls to grow 
  their number, and cults and dark wizards plot, all with no appointed 
  force to balance out their rising tide of evil. Cynical mystics even insist 
  that this dark tide has corrupted the souls of common people, stoking 
  xenophobia and apathy in once-gentle hearts. Technological villains 
  like Maestro and Toy Boy have found new leases on life through literal 
  deals with the devil, while those already empowered by magic have 
  found their powers growing stronger as the vile things in the shadows 
  fuel their flames.
  NETHERWAR SERIES GUIDE
  NETHERWAR SERIES GUIDE
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  But something far darker grows. A wicked seed planted years ago 
  and left to flourish in Earth-Prime’s magical essence. A new god is 
  awakening, and her minions need only destroy Eldrich’s few remain-
  ing safeguards to unleash her onto this world and countless others 
  beyond.
  WHAT IS NETHERWAR?
  NetherWar is a multi-part Mutants & MasterMinds adventure arc that tells 
  the story of rising dark magic on Earth-Prime and the hidden divine 
  force that is accelerating the world’s corruption. It plays out over five 
  adventures in the Astonishing Adventures PDF series—Assault on the 
  Nerian Nexus, The Pentagram Peril, Broken Strings, Bound by Gold, and 
  Three Made One—as well as a sixth adventure that serves as a prequel, 
  Master of Earth. Any of the adventures can be played alone, but when 
  played together they form on ongoing story arc like you might find 
  in a major crossover event from your favorite comic series. It covers a 
  variety of themes, including duty versus responsibility and the com-
  promises people make to survive… or to help others.
  The NetherWar arc is designed for a team of 4-6 heroes of PL 10, and 
  will provide enough experience for heroes to grow to PL 11 before its 
  end. Game Masters can run the series with heroes of higher or lower 
  PL, but should adjust the challenge provided by the villains and var-
  ious challenges to compensate and/or provide more or fewer Hero 
  Points than outlined in each adventure.
  KNOWN MASTER MAGES
  KNOWN MASTER MAGES
  While many have shouldered the burden of Master Mage over 
  the eons, many names have been lost to the sands of history or 
  deliberately erased, sometimes by their enemies, but other times 
  by wizards themselves to protect their works and families. Those 
  Master Mages known to have played a major role in the history of 
  Earth-Prime include:
  • Ios the Seer (Unknown)
  • Malador the Mystic (Unknown)
  • Naran the Wise (ancient Atlantis)
  • Simon Magus (circa 100 CE)
  • Merlin (700-unknown)
  • Abraham Hildebrandt (Unknown-1871)
  • Broken Crow (1871-1890)
  • Lady Violet Pennyworth (1890-1895)
  • Adrian Eldrich (1935-2013)
  While the rise of evil magic is the focus of the storyline, you are by 
  no means limited to creating only magic-based heroes to play it out. 
  While heroic wizards, mystic knights, and divinely empowered cham-
  pions play a definite thematic role, knowledge of the supernatural isn’t 
  necessary to defeat the danger and save the day. Heroes only need to 
  be brave, resourceful, and compassionate. If they succeed, they can 
  slow the rising power of evil until a new Master Mage can be found, 
  but if they fail, Earth-Prime could be plunged into chaos and ripped 
  apart at its magical seams!
  The heroes will gain a powerful magical ally early in the series: Adri-
  an Eldrich’s former apprentice Seven. Seven’s position as Dark Lord of 
  Una’s former holdings prevents her from returning to Earth for now, 
  but she can contact the heroes to provide insight and expertise they 
  may lack. Players who play through the NetherWar prequel adventure 
  can even fight alongside Seven or step into her shoes in her tense bat-
  tle against Una.
  THE ROLE OF A MASTER MAGE
  The power and responsibilities of a Master Mage crops up time and 
  time again throughout the NetherWar storyline. A dimension’s Master 
  Mage serves as a guardian and shepherd for its magical energy, au-
  thorized by the mystic powers that be to negotiate and bargain on be-
  half of their entire realm—a sort of cosmic power of attorney. Malador 
  the Mystic, for example, once offered up all of Earth to his dark gods 
  in exchange for power—and even those mystic powers aligned with 
  light were bound to honor his arrangement even though they found it 
  detestable and maneuvered their own agents to undermine it. 
  In mechanical terms, being a Master Mage is a rank 4 status Benefit. 
  Heroes hoping to take on the status of Master Mage themselves can 
  gradually purchase ranks in this Advantage over the course of the 
  series, but cannot purchase their final rank until the conclusion of 
  events. The gradual evolution of a magician’s status to this point car-
  ries its own benefits and reputation:
  • 
  Status 1 Adept of Note): Many magical beings have heard of the 
  hero or at least whoever trained them in the arts and are more 
  likely to take them seriously as a friend or foe.
  • 
  Status 2 (Potential Inheritor): The hero’s name is known to 
  many magical creatures and spellcasters, and many suspect they 
  could be the next Master Mage if they’re clever.
  • 
  Status 3 (Heir Apparent): Most beings in the magical communi-
  ty recognize the hero’s name or reputation, and generally accept 
  that they will become the next Master Mage. They may try to in-
  gratiate themselves or go out of their way to target the hero.
  • 
  Status 4 (Master Mage): The hero has gained the title of Master 
  Mage and can demand respect and deference from the magical 
  beings of their world. Other spellcasters are at least aware of their 
  name and power.
  The Master Mage also acts as a lens to  focus the magic of their world, 
  a task requiring incredible will. A good-hearted or disciplined Master 
  Mage tames the wild surges of magic that can cause strange phenom-
  enon and disasters, while refining the magic of their world into a form 
  easier for like-minded spellcasters to harness. But a corrupt Master 
  Mage taints the magic of their world with their inner demons, coloring 
  the arcane energy with their same rage, perversion, or lust for pow-
  er. Those who learn to harness that lens and direct the magic of their 
  world ascend to Dark Lords, powerful beings straddling the divide be-
  tween mortal and god, whose realms reflect their twisted dispositions. 
  This effect is best handled as a narrative element of the position; as a 
  character acting as the Master Mage for their dimension changes their 
  behavior and outlook, it becomes easier for magical beings aligned 
  with that outlook to enter their world, and more difficult for opposing 
  practitioners to harness the plane’s magical energy.
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  A Master Mage’s final role is arbiter and authority over the magical 
  forces of their realm. The mantle comes with considerable respect 
  from mystics and spellcasters, and even those who don’t directly obey 
  the Master Mage must at least pay their words heed. Many magical 
  creatures native to their realm are compelled to obey their direct or-
  ders, while mystic beings from other dimensions can sometimes be 
  driven back to their own realms through force of will alone. This effect 
  is generally handled as a plot device, but Game Masters may allow a 
  Master Mage to use their ranks in the Benefit (Status: Master Mage) ad-
  vantage as Luck that can only be spent on social interactions against 
  magical creatures.
  That potential for corruption is why the mantle of Master Mage is so care-
  fully tended and guarded. The title is normally passed via ritual—a circle 
  of spellcasters can call the mantle down, once it is freed by its current 
  holder’s death—but it can pass naturally through a strong bond, such as 
  from master to apprentice, or be won in a duel arcane if the current bear-
  er of the title agrees. Magics that can unwillingly strip the mantle from a 
  host are forbidden by the oldest pacts, and even the darkest entities—
  Bal’hemoth, Kar’Kradas, Shatachna, Vhoka—devour adherents who turn 
  to such arts. Only forces of true chaos such as the Howling Dream and 
  the Unspeakable One would give power to such rituals.
  Without a Master Mage, the Earth realm has no shepherd and no lens. 
  Its magic runs wild and untamed, licking at the heels of civilization 
  and twisting the dreams of mortals into strange new forms. Normally, 
  chaotic beings would be drawn to this increasingly feral ecosystem, 
  but evil, as always, is opportunistic. And without a guardian to hold 
  them back, terrible things flourish.
  CREATING NETHERWAR HEROES
  As mentioned before, heroes don’t need to be particularly magically 
  inclined to enjoy the NetherWar story arc. A team of science-focused 
  heroes is just as appropriate as a team of alchemists. Any existing char-
  acter you have can enjoy playing through NetherWar and saving the 
  world from evil magic.
  If you’re making a new hero from scratch for these adventures, or lev-
  eling up your existing hero, consider some of the following advice to 
  get the most out of the experience.
  LEGACIES
  If you would like to tie your character’s background more directly into 
  the magical history of Freedom City or Earth-Prime, you may want to 
  create an apprentice of Adrian Eldrich or Seven who is carrying out 
  their duties in their absence. If this doesn’t appeal to you, Freedom City 
  includes several mystic and mystic-adjacent legacies you can select, 
  such as the Light-Bearer, a champion of light destined to fight back 
  against the rising darkness, or the Scarab, a reincarnating psychic hero 
  who has stood against corrupt mages time and time again. A heroic 
  mage may be one of the Door Wardens (see the Atlas of Earth-Prime), 
  masters of interdimensional magic who guard Earth from outside 
  threats and monitor magical transport.
  SKILLS
  As always, a good mix of skills and specializations is important to a 
  superhero team. The challenges throughout the story arc call upon a 
  hero’s wits, physicality, and empathy, and many scenes allow for cre-
  ative solutions.
  Expertise (Freedom City): Much of the NetherWar story arc is based 
  on the history and characters of Freedom City, and some knowledge 
  of the city’s history will help heroes know who’s who. If your Game 
  Master plans to set NetherWar in a different city, swap out for the ap-
  propriate Expertise or consider a variation like “Villains” or “Local His-
  tory.” This is doubly true if no one in your team has Expertise (Magic).
  Expertise (Magic): Unsurprisingly, a little knowledge of magic—even 
  if a hero isn’t a magician themselves—will help the entire team un-
  derstand the personalities and stakes involved and recognize magical 
  creatures and artifacts.
  Insight: Trickery is afoot! Magical beings are rarely straightforward 
  in their dealings, and many are intentionally misleading, even if they 
  aren’t explicitly lying. Insight can help a hero know when to keep on 
  their toes or when they’re on the bad end of a deal.
  Investigation: There are many mysteries and crossed motivations at 
  the heart of the NetherWar and having at least one team member who 
  can scout out clues and suss out their meaning will help your heroes 
  get to the heart of the conflict.
  Persuasion: The magical world is filled with neutral agents—neither 
  good nor evil—who can be swayed to assist either side, not to men-
  tion ancient vendettas between villains that heroes can use to their 
  advantage. A hero or two skilled in gathering information from living 
  sources can likewise back up the efforts of an investigative hero.
  Technology: While the primary adversaries of NetherWar are magical 
  beings, the heroes will still encounter technological challenges they 
  must overcome, computers to access, and locks to defeat. Given how 
  unfamiliar most of the magical community is with modern technolo-
  gy, this skill may even be an ace in the hole—an unexpected solution 
  to problems their enemies never considered.
  ADVANTAGES
  NetherWar includes plenty of dramatic conflicts between good and 
  evil, so all the old combat staples—Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, 
  Power Attack, and so on—will help keep the heroes’ tactics flexible 
  against a variety of foes.
  Several Advantages allow players to choose how and when they ap-
  ply. For these options, consider the following:
  BENEFIT
  There are several applications of the Benefit Advantage that can cater 
  specifically to the story and themes of the NetherWar story arc.
  • 
  Apprentice Master: You studied under a powerful spellcaster—
  perhaps even Eldrich or Seven—to help prepare you to take over 
  the role of Master Mage one day. You’re a prime candidate to in-
  herit the title of Master Mage one day, particularly after a major 
  act of heroism. Your reputation grants you a +2 circumstance 
  bonus on Persuasion checks against mages and magical beings 
  who respect the Master Mage, and a +2 circumstance bonus on 
  Intimidation checks against mages and magical beings who hate 
  or fear the Master Mage.
  • 
  Cynical: Everything has a scientific explanation, and just because 
  we can’t explain something yet doesn’t mean it’s “magic” any 
  more than a Neanderthal not understanding electronics makes a 
  smartphone magic. You gain a +1 bonus to your Will defense and 
  Fortitude defense that is only effective against attacks with the 
  magic descriptor. PL caps still apply to this bonus.
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  • 
  Spiritual Diplomat: Whether you have spiritualist ancestors or 
  died briefly and returned, the spirit world sees you as an arbiter 
  or conduit between them and the living. Unaligned magical crea-
  tures and ghosts won’t attack you unprovoked and begin with 
  an Indifferent or Favorable attitude toward you, and you gain a 
  +2 bonus to Persuasion checks against spirits, ghosts, and magi-
  cal creatures that aren’t hostile to you. For an additional 2 ranks, 
  you can also see ghosts, spirits, and magical creatures who are 
  normally invisible (and spellcasters using Concealment effects).
  • 
  Sixth Sense: You get a chill up your spine when too close to the 
  supernatural, allowing you to identify magic and supernatural ef-
  fects nearby with a Perception check (DC 10, with a -1 penalty to 
  your check per 10 feet of distance). For 2 ranks, you may use this 
  keen sense to track magical effects and creatures to their source. 
  This is essentially an Advantage version of the Senses (Magic 
  Awareness) and Senses (Tracking) powers.
  • 
  Weak Aura: Your aura is muted and difficult for supernatural 
  creatures to detect, perhaps due to chronic illness, cybernetic 
  parts, or skeptical nature. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on 
  Stealth checks to avoid being noticed by supernatural creatures 
  and spellcasters, and creatures that can sense the dead or detect 
  life may mistake you for dead with a successful Deception check.
  EQUIPMENT
  Any equipment is appropriate for this story arc, but your Game Mas-
  ter may allow your heroes to acquire low-power magical devices as 
  equipment rather than devices. You heroes will have the opportunity 
  to acquire a magical headquarters early in the story arc, and so you 
  may wish to set aside 3-5 equipment points for this during character 
  creation.
  FAVORED ENVIRONMENT
  NetherWar is a globetrotting series of adventures that takes heroes to 
  strange corners of the world as well as magical planes of existence. 
  Frequently visited terrain includes “Mystic Dimensions”, “Under-
  ground”, and “Urban.”
  FAVORED FOE
  Heroes will still face killer robots and mutants in addition to the mystic 
  threats, but arcane villains make up the bulk of opposition through-
  out the NetherWar. Because of this, Game Masters may decide that 
  definitions for Favored Foe like “Magical Creatures” are too broad and 
  that heroes will need to be more specific. Appropriate Favored Foes 
  include “Demons”, “Ghosts and Spirits”, “Wizards”, “Magical Constructs”, 
  and “Cultists.”
  LEADERSHIP
  More than most villains, magical villains are known for unleashing 
  strange effects to instill fear, bind, or exhaust their foes, and so a hero 
  who can help their allies recover from such conditions will be a boon.
  POWERS
  A variety of powers will prove useful throughout NetherWar, but a few 
  may be more or less significant than normal due to the story arc’s fo-
  cus. In particular, powers that control technology may have limited ap-
  plication. The heroes will spend a fair amount of time in ancient tem-
  ples and mystic dimensions where there won’t be much technology to 
  apply such powers to. In these cases, Gamemasters should award the 
  handicapped hero a Hero Point for losing access to one of their major 
  abilities. Powers that simply derive from technology, like high-tech de-
  vices and powersuits, generally won’t be affected by this limitation.
  Players interested in playing mystics in this series will find the Magic 
  Powers and Mental Powers sections of Power Profiles especially use-
  ful. The Magical Powers section also includes named entities who will 
  appear at least in name over the NetherWar adventures.
  A few specific notes on powers include:
  • 
  Damage: Many magical beings have oddly specific weaknesses 
  to particular substances, elements, or even colors. Take the extra 
  effort to describe your damage effects in detail and it might pay 
  off.
  • 
  Immunity (Magic): Given the ubiquity of magic as a power de-
  scriptor among the opponents in NetherWar, immunity to magic 
  is a significant advantage given its low cost of 10pp. Game Mas-
  ters may decide to require the Limited (half effect) flaw, increase 
  the cost of magic immunity to 20 points, given how common 
  magic will be, or both. It’s also important to remember that while 
  Immunity to magic effects renders you safe from magic target-
  ing your hero directly, it doesn’t help when the magic is applied 
  to something else. A hero immune to magic could still be blud-
  geoned with a mystically levitated boulder, for example, or pum-
  meled by a minion whose strength is magically augmented.
  • 
  Movement (Dimension Travel): The ability to travel into mystic 
  dimensions (and back) will be a valuable tool in many of the Neth-
  erWar adventures, though the nature of mystic dimensions often 
  means that they may be easy to access and very difficult to exit, 
  even with appropriate powers.
  • 
  Nullify (Magic): Like Immunity (Magic), the ability to neutralize 
  magic may prove more valuable than its low point cost would 
  suggest, even with the Broad Extra that normally requires. Your 
  Game Master might require a more narrow category of magical 
  effects, such as “magical curses,” “magical attacks,” “augmenta-
  tions,” or increase the cost of Nullify (Magic) by one additional 
  point per rank.
  • 
  Summoning: The ability to conjure minions is a common mag-
  ical trope, but just as some mystic dimensions interfere with Di-
  mension Travel powers, they may likewise disrupt a hero’s ability 
  to summon magical minions.
  BECOMING MASTER MAGE
  BECOMING MASTER MAGE
  As a mystic force, the title of Master Mage requires ritual and cer-
  emony to pass along. It is normally passed from master to ap-
  prentice, or between peers when one’s time comes. Lacking ritual 
  to direct it, the mantle frees itself when its previous bearer dies 
  and may leap to a shining beacon of potential. It might also lie 
  dormant for decades, as it has done recently, and as it did before 
  passing to Eldrich in 1935.
  The title of Master Mage does not come with any direct magical 
  power. Instead, a bearer must already wield mystic arts to be able 
  to accept the title. In Adrian Eldrich’s case, the spirits of bygone 
  Atlantean sages used their power to unlock his own knowledge 
  of magic from a previous life, in essence “jump-starting” him into 
  the role. Normally, the title falls to an experienced practitioner 
  who is well-known in the mystical community of their dimension.
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  COMPLICATIONS
  Complications provide a steady source of Hero Points for your char-
  acters to use during an adventure, and on some occasions, magical 
  effects may force Complications to come up, such as by invoking a 
  character’s worst fears or inner demons. Including a few interesting 
  character faults—especially Obsessions, Phobias, Relationships, and 
  Responsibilities—can help you make the most of these scenes.
  A few specific Complications require special consideration:
  • 
  Addiction (magic): Characters who worry about abusing their 
  magic will spend the entirety of NetherWar surrounded by temp-
  tation, for better or for worse.
  • 
  Enemy: If a hero wants personal enemies that recur and have a 
  grudge against them personally throughout the course of the 
  NetherWar; Medea, Toy Boy, and Warden (see Freedom City) all ap-
  pear multiple times in the course of events. Alternatively, you can 
  pick almost any magical villain and ask your Game Master to work 
  them into the plot—either to replace one of these recurring vil-
  lains or to augment their numbers. Remember that your chosen 
  villain likely also gains the hero as an Enemy Complication, and 
  so should also gain the equivalent of a Hero Point to spend when 
  they show up in the story.
  • 
  Phobia: Powerful fears appear often in magic-associated super-
  hero stories, either the result of contact with a powerful super-
  natural creature or haunting or because the hero’s focus on mind-
  over-matter unintentionally lends power to their subconscious 
  dread. Common fears that may appear in NetherWar include 
  claustrophobia, snakes, demons, and the undead.
  • 
  Power Loss: Casting magic spells almost always requires some 
  element of potential Power Loss. Most mages cannot use their 
  powers when they can’t speak or gesture—such as when under-
  water, gagged, or bound by a snare attack. Others need special 
  implements—wands or staves or charms—to use their spells; 
  these implements may have no power on their own (and so ar-
  en’t devices), but are needed to focus the mage’s potential. Mag-
  es and magical creatures bound to a particular element may lose 
  their powers when surrounded by the opposing element, such as 
  an air elementalist losing her powers when underground.
  • 
  Responsibility: Heroes with some duty or responsibility to main-
  tain the magical balance of the world will find plenty to motivate 
  them. Their dedication to a greater cause may occasionally mean 
  siding with characters they dislike. Heroes bound to hunt and 
  contain dangerous magical entities, for example, may need to ally 
  with shifty characters who have the ability to contain defeated 
  mages.
  • 
  Weakness: A weakness to magic puts a hero at a severe disad-
  vantage throughout the course of the NetherWar story arc, but 
  also gives that character the ability to earn plenty of Hero Points. 
  Common weakness effects against magic include halving the 
  hero’s appropriate defense bonus against magic effects or in-
  creasing the severity of failed resistance checks by one step. In 
  general, a hero only earns a Hero Point for a weakness the first 
  time it shows up in a scene, not every time they’re targeted by 
  that effect, and only when that effect endangers the hero, not 
  simply when it is present. Less omnipresent weaknesses to magic 
  may include a sensitivity to magical travel that leaves the hero 
  fatigued for the next scene or the inability to benefit from magic 
  effects like positive transformations and healing.
  BEQUESTS
  At several points throughout the NetherWar adventure arc, characters 
  have the option to inherit bits of magical bequest—magical objects, 
  contacts, control of locations, and titles—especially those left behind 
  by the absent Adrian Eldrich. Making use of any of these options re-
  quires investing power points—either experience or pp saved from 
  character creation—and most are relatively inexpensive, ranging from 
  3-10pp. Not immediately spending the points to acquire a bequest 
  doesn’t mean the opportunity vanishes forever. Characters can retain 
  the physical items or have the potential to gain an ally for weeks or 
  years to purchase later, or even draw upon in an emergency by spend-
  ing a Hero Point to edit the scene. They simply don’t have the control 
  to make regular use of that bequest until you invest power points into 
  it—magic is strange and willful, and so needs discipline and focus to 
  master, even if in one’s grasp.
  The bequests in NetherWar exist as fun opportunities for a character 
  to develop new abilities and resources. Your heroes aren’t obligated 
  to keep any of the bequests and acquiring them isn’t central to com-
  pleting the plot. If more than one player wants to acquire the same 
  bequest for their hero, discuss the options and the potential to share 
  it. Two or more heroes can share the cost of a sidekick or headquarters, 
  for example, but probably can’t wear the same magic cloak. In these 
  cases, the Game Master might want to introduce additional, similar 
  items or allow players to create their own bequests invested with sim-
  ilar backstories.
  TEAM DYNAMICS
  If your gaming group is making a new team of heroes for the Nether-
  War adventure arc, it’s worth taking a moment to consider why they’re 
  working together and are drawn into this storyline.
  DEFENDERS OF THE CITY
  The general assumption for a Mutants & MasterMinds campaign is that 
  the heroes are a team of like-minded defenders of the defenseless, 
  who apply their unique powers to stop dangers too great for average 
  people or authorities to stand against. This option can bring the great-
  est variety of skills and abilities to bear, as it doesn’t imply anything 
  about the heroes’ origins or powers. It also means your team has a 
  weak thematic link to the events of the NetherWar; you stand against 
  the rise of evil magic because it threatens your city and world—a he-
  roic effort, but hardly personal. Yet.
  FORMER TEEN HEROES
  Many months or even years separate the events of the NetherWar pre-
  quel adventure, Master of Earth, from the main storyline. With Master of 
  Earth focusing on teen heroes recruited from the Claremont Academy 
  to help Seven defeat Una, that experience may tie heroes together, 
  even years later, when villains begin plucking at the threads woven by 
  Eldrich and Seven. Seven herself may even reach out to her one-time 
  allies to bring them back together to aid her while she is still unable 
  to return to Earth. This option gives the players some personal history 
  with events of the NetherWar while still giving them a huge variety 
  of options regarding their origins and powers. You should progress 
  whichever PL 8 teen heroes you use for Master of Earth to PL 10 before 
  continuing with the next adventure.
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  MYSTIC INVESTIGATORS
  The rising tide of dark magic is expected, but proceeding more quick-
  ly than anyone thought it could, even without a Master Mage. Many 
  members of Earth-Prime’s magical community are concerned and 
  baffled by this turn of events and may band together to investigate 
  strange new developments. With the flexibility of magic and a descrip-
  tor, heroes can still have a variety of abilities—a golem powerhouse 
  fighting alongside a demigod paragon, an energy controller fueled 
  by an elemental, and a traditional mage—but share some common 
  expertise and personal stake in tracking down the cause of these dire 
  events. The only drawback is that such heroes might feel out of place 
  investigating the ordinary crimes and non-magical villains that appear 
  in several NetherWar adventures, and Game Masters may need to work 
  to tie these events into the growing threat of corrupt magic.
  RESEARCHERS
  Rather than mystically inclined, the heroes are its equal and oppo-
  site—a team of science-minded individuals curious about phenom-
  ena like the shift in Earth’s electromagnetic field and the rise of unex-
  plained events. These heroes likely share a common origin—similar to 
  Freedom City’s Atom Family—that focuses on technology rather than 
  magic and have a goal of explaining the unexplained while protecting 
  the world. Game Masters may need to build some extra backstory into 
  NetherWar adventures to help satisfy their heroes’ scientific curiosity 
  when it comes to explaining magic effects, but this approach to the 
  series can carry fun and powerful elements of opposition to it that 
  helps make stories like Ghosterbusters into memorable classics.
  SCARRED BY MAGIC
  Rather than experts and representatives of the magical community, 
  the heroes have all been personally victimized by the rise of dark mag-
  ic over the past several years. They may be afflicted with a curse that 
  also provides them with inhuman powers, were cult sacrifices who 
  now linger as ghosts, or are the survivors of monster attacks who have 
  trained themselves in martial arts or mastered weapons to fight back. 
  As with the Mystic Investigators option, these heroes have a deep per-
  sonal stake in stemming the rise of evil magic, but may not possess 
  the same expertise, contacts, or even power source as the creatures 
  they hunt. Heroes scarred by magic likely have a large variety of mag-
  ic-related Complications that Game Masters should keep in mind and 
  may be reluctant to work alongside the magical allies that appear in 
  the story arc.
  CONCEPT ROLES
  The idea of Concept Roles—first introduced in the M&M Superteam 
  Handbook—is a narrative tool that allows heroes to fit into in the sto-
  ry, to feel distinct, and help them stand out in a group that may have 
  characters with similar abilities and skills. It provides a distinct outlook 
  and purpose and helps suggest character traits to back up a hero’s 
  personality and place on the team. Any of the Concept Roles provid-
  ed in the SuperTeam Handbook are appropriate for NetherWar, but the 
  specific nature of these adventures presents the opportunity for more 
  specific roles.
  You can learn more about Concept Roles in Chapter 2 of the M&M 
  SuperTeam Handbook.
  HISTORIAN
  You’re an academic or a diehard fan of something appropriate. You 
  might be magically inclined, but you might just as easily be an an-
  thropologist or archaeologist in your secret identity who has spent 
  their life studying ritual beliefs or a superhero nerd with a soft spot for 
  Adrian Eldrich’s 80 years of adventure. Finding yourself thrust into the 
  middle of supernatural events is a double-edged sword: Sure, your life 
  is in danger, but when else will anyone have the chance to study all 
  this from the inside?
  TRAIT SUGGESTIONS
  Intelligence might not be your best Ability, but it’s likely higher than 
  it needs to be and helps prop up the skills you need in order to learn 
  all you can, like Expertise (Magic), Expertise (Superheroes), Investi-
  gation, and Insight. If you’re more of a documentarian, then getting 
  people to open up and share what they know requires a decent Pres-
  ence and at least a few ranks in Persuasion (or Deception), while the 
  Second Chance and Ultimate Effort Advantages for your preferred 
  information-gathering skills mean you’ll rarely miss a clue.
  COMPLICATIONS
  The following complications suit this role:
  Curiosity: You’ll never learn anything if you don’t turn over every 
  stone! You earn a Hero Point whenever your curiosity unleashes some-
  thing unpleasant or you go easy on a villain so you can learn what 
  they know.
  Obsession: Your interest borders on the unhealthy and can drive you 
  to push yourself too hard. You can earn a Hero Point in exchange for 
  starting an adventure with the fatigued condition (or something simi-
  lar) for a few scenes as a result of pushing yourself too hard.
  Responsibility: Your interests are at least partially professional—a 
  university, publisher, or secret society wants to know what you know, 
  so you must make time for meetings and turn over many of your find-
  ings. You might earn a Hero Point when these obligations leave you 
  at a disadvantage—starting a scene in your secret identity or arriving 
  late to an adventure, for example—or when crossing your employer 
  causes you to lose access to Advantages like Connected, Equipment, 
  or Well-informed.
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  INHERITOR
  You should have been the next Master Mage and you’re keenly aware 
  that some character flaw cost you this opportunity. Maybe your in-
  sufferable overconfidence made you seem self-destructive or your 
  own insecurities drove you to reject such an awesome responsibility. 
  A part of you is deeply drawn to anything related to the legacy of Mas-
  ter Mage, either to earn a second shot at the title or because you feel 
  responsible for the growing problems.
  TRAIT SUGGESTIONS
  Your powers are almost certainly magical in nature—probably tradi-
  tional spellcasting, but maybe a specialization like alchemy, elemental 
  control, or time magic—and you likely boast an impressive Intelligence 
  or Awareness Ability to match. Skills like Expertise (Magic) and Advan-
  tages like Artificer and Ritualist help round out your problem-solving 
  abilities, even if they sometimes require the investment of time. Your 
  years of training have probably also given you an impressive Will de-
  fense, although you might have a few gaps in your mental armor (see 
  Complications).
  COMPLICATIONS
  The following complications suit this role:
  Disappointment: Someone was training you to become the next 
  Master Mage and may be deeply disappointed in your lapse (or you 
  might blame them for your failure). You earn a Hero Point whenever 
  you play up this sour relationship, the relationship causes problems 
  for you, or you go out of your way to patch things up.
  Reputation: As a student intended for such a prestigious path, your 
  identity (and failure) are widely known in the magical community. You 
  earn a Hero Point whenever your reputation worsens another person’s 
  starting attitude toward you or imposes a circumstance penalty on 
  your interaction checks (-2 or -5, depending on how that individual 
  feels about you).
  Weakness: Something in your personality leaves you especially vul-
  nerable to certain kinds of manipulation. Your ego might make you 
  more vulnerable to flattery and illusions that praise your glory, or your 
  insecurity might leave you vulnerable to fear effects and intimidation. 
  You can only apply half your Will defense against your foible but you 
  earn a Hero Point whenever it comes up.
  LAYPERSON
  You’re the uninitiated, average hero-on-the-street feeling in way over 
  your head with all this talk about magic, dimensions, and ancient his-
  tory. It may as well be Latin… and a lot of it probably is. You spend a lot 
  of time with a confused look, asking questions that should be obvious 
  to your magical colleagues. In media, the layperson character serves 
  as an audience surrogate, letting the audience learn the secrets of 
  the world as the character does. But in Mutants & MasterMinds, this role 
  offers the entire group the chance to ask questions about the basics 
  of history and how magic works, while providing you with the fun of 
  turning mystical technobabble into oversimplified metaphors.
  TRAIT SUGGESTIONS
  While you have immense flexibility in building your character, you 
  should steer clear of any of the options that would be thematically ap-
  propriate, such as the Expertise (Magic) skill and magic-based powers. 
  Instead, invest some power points into developing an unlikely interest 
  or skill that might be a fun and unexpected way to solve problems, like 
  singing ability, knowledge of pop culture, or an unbreakable optimism 
  that can inspire your friends.
  COMPLICATIONS
  The following complications suit this role:
  Accident: As a complete neophyte in relation to anything magical, 
  you have a tendency to poke artifacts, drink potions, or read forbidden 
  tomes aloud without understanding the gravity of what you’re doing. 
  Earn a Hero Point every time you accidentally make things worse by 
  not knowing what you’re doing.
  Honor: As one of the uninitiated, you don’t really have a horse in this 
  race. People have been ignorant of magic even when it was at its worst 
  and still managed to survive. So, standing by others against terrible 
  power is a matter of honor, friendship, or human decency for you. You 
  earn a Hero point whenever your moral code pushes you to risk life 
  and limb against a greater foe, or you risk your life to help someone.
  Phobia: People fear what they don’t understand, and there is a lot you 
  don’t understand… at least not yet. While a fear of magic is a little too 
  broad (and likely too ubiquitous), a fear of ghosts, fire, or monsters 
  that leaves you Dazed or Impaired during an encounter earns you a 
  Hero Point whenever it comes up.
  7
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  SKEPTIC
  If magic is real—and you’re not saying it is; quantum physics can go 
  some pretty weird places—then it’s at least not this weird, quasi-divine 
  force all these touchy-feely types keep telling you it is. Like any other 
  superpower, it’s just something that needs to be explained, and you’re 
  well-positioned to explain it by digging into its oldest traditions and 
  mythology. While your eagerness to explain the unexplainable doesn’t 
  always endear you to mystically inclined friends, it does provide you 
  with an outside perspective that can be handy for solving problems.
  TRAIT SUGGESTIONS
  You need a few non-magical Expertise specialties, such as Science, 
  Psychology, or Anthropology—to help you dig for reasonable expla-
  nations for unreasonable things. You may also rely on the Technology 
  skill to analyze or contain the strange things you encounter. You’re 
  accustomed to making do and thinking on the fly, making Advantag-
  es like Improvised Tools, Improvised Weapon, and Throwing Mastery 
  natural choices for you, as is Inventor if you’re technologically inclined.
  COMPLICATIONS
  The following complications suit this role:
  Obsession: Your need to expose the truth can drive you to extremes. 
  Whenever your need to dig below the surface of any issue leads into a 
  dangerous situation, you earn a Hero Point.
  Secret: Your skepticism comes from some deeply personal experience 
  you don’t like to share. Maybe you had an unexplained encounter as a 
  child, maybe you were taken in by a con artist posing as a psychic, or 
  maybe your parents are just leaders of a new-age sex cult and it’s really 
  embarrassing. The stress of keeping the secret means you’re Fatigued 
  when your secret might be revealed and Stunned for a round when 
  someone else uses it against you—earning a Hero Point in either case. 
  You also earn a Hero Point if you open up and share this vulnerability 
  with trusted friends.
  Self-Appointed Expert: You try not to be a jerk to others with your 
  dedicated disbelief—try being the operative word. Earn a Hero Point 
  every time you can’t help butting into a conversation and sabotaging 
  your allies’ efforts with your “hard truths.” Doing so imposes a circum-
  stance penalty (usually -2, but sometimes -5, depending on the sensi-
  tivity of the topic) to your group’s attempts to influence others.
  TRUE BELIEVER
  You aren’t necessarily a mystic, but you’re an eager student ready to 
  learn the secrets of the world. There’s a lot of myth and superstition 
  surrounding the things you’re interested in, and until recently, you’ve 
  never known what was true and what was fantasy. But now it seems 
  like the whole magical world is collapsing in on itself, and maybe you 
  don’t have the knowledge to help, but by the gods, you have the will.
  TRAIT SUGGESTIONS
  You probably aren’t well-versed in the mystic arts, even if your powers 
  come from a magical source; but you’ve dedicated at least a little effort 
  into developing related interests like Expertise (History), Expertise (Bi-
  ology), Expertise (Pop Culture), Insight, or Treatment. While you likely 
  don’t have access to any magic-specific Advantages, your boundless 
  faith makes Diehard, Luck, and Extraordinary Effort natural fits. You 
  also likely benefit from either a respectable Intellect or Presence to 
  either justify your boundless curiosity or to make your ranting more 
  endearing than annoying.
  COMPLICATIONS
  The following complications suit this role:
  Naïve: You’re eager to defer to other, more experienced, mages if it 
  leads to new insights. You gain a Hero Point whenever you choose to 
  fail an Insight check against a magical being or spellcaster and just 
  believe whatever they tell you.
  Relationship: A dear relative or friend was always there to support 
  you and fill your head with inspiring stories of a magical world just 
  outside your reach. Now that you have the strength to stand on your 
  own, it’s your turn to protect them. You earn a Hero Point whenever 
  your relation is threatened by a disaster or villain, or whenever your 
  obligations to them put you at a disadvantage.
  Trouble-Magnet: Maybe it’s your openness to the supernatural. May-
  be it’s your body spray. But all the monsters seem to love you! You’re 
  always the target for weird creatures, magical effects, and supernat-
  ural predators, but earn a Hero Point whenever they attack you first 
  over your allies.
  Weakness: Your openness to magic is a burden as well as a strength, 
  leaving you Vulnerable to some (or all) magical effects.
  8
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  CREDITS & LICENSE
  CREDITS & LICENSE
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  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the 
  Coast, Inc. 
  System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of 
  the Coast, Inc., Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and 
  Dave Arneson. 
  Modern System Reference Document, Copyright 2002-2004, 
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, 
  Rich Red-man, Charles Ryan, Eric Cagle, David Noonan, 
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  based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, 
  John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker. 
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  Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. 
  Advanced Player’s Manual, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin 
  Publishing, LLC; Author Skip Williams. 
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  Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson. 
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  Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson. 
  Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook, Copyright 2011, 
  Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson.
  Mutants & Masterminds Astonishing Adventures: NetherWar 
  Series Guide, Copyright 2020, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; 
  Author Crystal Frasier.
  Mutants & MasterMinds astonishing adventures: netherWar series guide
  Writing: Crystal Frasier
  Design: Crystal Frasier
  Editing: Anne Kohler
  Art Direction: Hal Mangold
  Graphic Design: Crystal Frasier
  Interior Art: Chris Balaskas, Tony Parker, Scott James,  
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  Mutants & Masterminds Astonishing Adventures: NetherWar Series Guide 
  is ©2020 Green Ronin Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. References 
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  Series Guide
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Super Hero Games/Mutants & Masterminds/3rd Edition/M&M3e - Nether War Series Guide (PC Version)[OEF][2020] {GRR9865e}.pdf