Black Iron
Black Iron (officially called The Black Iron for some reason) is a third-party post-apocalyptic Dark Fantasy released by FeralGamersInc for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. If you like Dark Souls and Warhammer Fantasy, but think they're too cheerful and optimistic, then Black Iron is the setting for you!
A Primer on the Pale[edit | edit source]
Black Iron takes place on a world where the gods, or Yazata, long ago fought a mutual war of annihilation with their offspring, the giants, leaving the world to the inheritance of three races; dwarves (whose origins are lost to history), elves (who grew from trees fed with giant's blood) and humans (who crawled from the mud created when gods-blood soaked the earth). As in most D&D worlds, the elves quickly advanced far beyond the efforts of humanity, achieving first civilization and then mastery over magic whilst humans were still figuring out Stone Age tribal societies. This, of course, gave the elves an ego problem... so they decided they were the new lords and masters of the world, invented fleshcrafting, and set about "beautifying" the world.
This resulted in the elves exterminating the dwarves to the last when they decided they just couldn't "fix" them. With waves of eldritch fire and armies of twisted monsters they slaughtered them all and burned their underground homes clean of life. By which point humanity had developed iron weapons and armor and decided that they were so sick of being chattel to the elves that they risked it all and made war on their "masters".
To give humanity credit where it's due, they reaped a bloody tally on the elves. But in the end, the elves got the last laugh. Using their magic, they opened portals to some unknown realm and fled the world... but not before they blew up the moon and caused its core, which was made of the magical metal called "Black Iron" (sort of a bastard offspring of Red Steel (the mineral, not the setting) and Warpstone) to crash into the planet, triggering planet-wide earthquakes, tidal waves, firestorms and volcanic eruptions, followed by an artificial ice age.
That was barely a generation ago. Now you're stuck living in the ruins, scrabbling to survive in some pissant tribe, huddling in the ancient dwarven ruins for shelter, or clawing a living in the last two bastions of civilization left: the Black Fort and the Last City. Opposing you are mutants, madmen, cannibals, monsters, the remnants of the elven war-creatures and the growing hordes of the Blood Lords. To the west lies the great poisoned forest, sinking into tainted marshland. To the east lies the frozen sea. From the north comes the hungry ice, creeping ever downwards, and to the south lies the volcano-blasted, chemical-poisoned ashy dunes of the grey desert.
Good luck. You'll need it...
The Last City[edit | edit source]
Hidden in a fortified redoubt in the northern mountains, the Last City is, as its name suggests, the last major stronghold of civilization left on the world's surface since the fall of the Black Iron. Threatened from without by monsters and from within by starvation and the mad cults of the Blood Lords, the Last City stands defiant.
The Black Fort[edit | edit source]
Standing two leagues west of the Last City, the Black Fort is a fortress-city that houses the only stronghold of mages left in the Pale. Here is where those with magical talents come to train, and in return their powers are turned to the desperate struggle to preserve life in this blasted wasteland of a world. Its twelve towers, the Sun Spires, use the magically burning hearts of twelve master pyromancers to produce heat and light, beating back the encroaching cold and allowing life to survive.
The Lost Cities[edit | edit source]
These five great dwarven ruins are the center of humanity's survival in the Realm Below, the Underdark of the Pale Lands.
The Blood Lords[edit | edit source]
Seven abominations, once human, now something... other. Whether this is because of elven meddling, the corruptive effects of the Black Iron, or both, nobody knows. These are the would-be Chaos Gods of the setting, and gather armies of monsters and madmen about them to claim the blasted world for their own.
Axas: Lord of Blood and Vein
Barston: Lord of Salt and Rust
Kial: The Lord Chirugeon
Laidon: Lord of Depravity
Nicran: Lord of Death and Rot
Xertin: Lord of Conflict and Murder
Playable Species[edit | edit source]
None of the races (or "species", as the book insists on calling them) from the PHB are used in Black Iron. Instead, you have access to the following races:
Chimeer: The result of elven experiments in merging humans and animals to create superior slave-soldiers, now left to find their own way in a world that distrusts them. All Chimeers are Medium sized, but they gain ability score modifiers, movement speed and a single racial trait depending on which animal they were melded with. Players are ordered to roll randomly to determine what kind of Chimeer they are, because that's the sort of setting this is. Bear Chimeers have a speed of 30 feet, +2 Strength and the talent "Strong" (Advantage on Str checks to bust doors, break bars and lift gates, +1 damage with unarmed strikes). Boar Chimeers have a speed of 25 feet, +1 Str and +1 Con, and the talent "Tough" (+2 AC). Lizard Chimeers have a speed of 35 feet, +2 Constitution, and the talent "Regeneration" (you recover HP on a short rest as if you had completed a long rest). Rat Chimeers have a speed of 35 feet, +1 Dexterity and +1 Constitution, and the talent "Strong Guts" (Advantage on Con saves vs. ingested poisons & diseases). Wildcat Chimeers have a speed of 30 feet, +1 Dexterity and +1 Wisdom, and Darkvision 60 feet. Finally, Wolf Chimeers have a speed of 30 feet, +1 Dexterity and +1 Intelligence, and the talent "Sense of Smell" (Advantage on Perception checks to discover hidden creatures).
Vri-Dael were the result of diabolical breeding experiments on human women by elven men, and are the most hated race left in the Pale as a result. Black Iron Half-Elves are sterile, which is ironic because they were intended to see if elves could co-opt human fecundity for their own purposes. They have to choose whether their human or elven heritage is dominant; both subraces are Medium sized with a speed of 30 feet, but Elf-Dominant vri-dael gain +2 Dexterity, can infravision (heat-sight) and magic-sight, and gain an extra 1st, 2nd or 3rd level spell per level, whilst Human-Dominant vri-dael get +1 to all stats, have Darkvision 60 feet, and have Advantage on Acrobatics/Athletics checks relating to maintaining their balance.
Finally, Humans are the dominant race of the Pale, as you'd expect. They get +1 to all stats, are Medium sized, base speed 30 feet, and have Advantage on Survival checks to find food and on saves vs. Frightened.
Classes[edit | edit source]
Black Iron doesn't use the standard Player's Handbook classes of 5th edition, but instead uses the following classes and subclasses. The setting is also level-locked at 12th level; you can't get any higher than level 12 as a PC by official rules, so no class has abilities higher than that.
Fighter: Basic warrior class. The least changed from the PHB class. Subclasses are the Pit Fighter (specialist in unarmed combat), Sell Sword (master of dirty combat) and Warrior (expert at great weapons).
Hunter: Replaces the Ranger. Subclasses are Bounty Hunter, Monster Hunter, and Scout.
Mage: The only spellcasting class in Black Iron. Uses one of three styles of magic, which are emphasized by subschool; Pyromancy (master of fire elementalism, highly respected), Necromancy (a healing-centric art in the Pale Lands), or Sorcery (master of esoteric magic, essentially a wizard who gains the Font of Sorcery, Metamagic and Sorcerous Restoration features as it levels up).
Scavenger: A hunter of ancient lore and artefacts, combining elements of the rogue and the bard. Subclasses are Knowledge Broker, Relic Hunter and Treasure Seeker.
Tribal: A member of the savage tribes that scratch out a living in the Pale Lands. Replacement Barbarian. Subclasses are Brave, Hunter and Shaman.
Vagrant: A member of the criminals, beggars and other scum of civilization. Replacement Rogue. Subclasses are Basher, Guide and Burglar.