PLAYER INTRODUCTION

In Dark Matter, fantasy and science fiction live side-by- Magical Technology
side: the universe is filled to the brim with huge starships, In Dark Matter, most things that would be considered high-
innumerable alien creatures and planets, and all sorts of technology are actually advanced magic items. Blasters
blasters, jetpacks, and power armor. It’s also populated with can be considered highly-developed evocation wands,
dragons, demons, giants, and strange alien creatures to be flying cars use a variant on a permanent levitate spell, and
met and slain. Axe-wielding barbarians clad in furs can stand traveling faster than the speed of light is simply an advanced
alongside machine-gun toting androids, facing down alien application of teleportation magic.
horrors on the deck of a derelict space cruiser.
In this setting, sufficiently advanced magic is Rules Additions
indistinguishable from technology. Magical devices have The following new rules are important additions to those used
become as commonplace as torches, pitchforks, and horses in 5th Edition:
once were. While most people still can't banish a demon or • Blasters are ammunition-less ranged weapons which use
rain fire from the sky, they have ready access to hardlight- two damage dice instead of one, but don’t add your ability
projecting consoles, levitating hovercars, and other wondrous score modifier to damage.
devices. Magic is no longer at odds with technology; it has • Dark Matter introduces three new skills: Dexterity
become technology. (Piloting), used to pull off tricky maneuvers in starships,
The ‘Verse Intelligence (Data), used for hacking and interacting
The setting’s namesake is the Dark Matter engine, a device with software, and Intelligence (Technology), used to
which allows ships to instantaneously hop across the galaxy manipulate hardware.
by taking a shortcut through a minuscule demiplane called • A new sense, thermalsight, allows constructs to view
the Void. The featureless, uninhabitable space between heat, even through fog and smoke, but it does not allow
worlds is called the Black, and while it is indeed mostly them to see through illusions.
empty, it contains a few horrors spacers dare not speak of. • Characters should be considered to have a datapad,
The galaxy is also riddled with perilous Dead Magic comm set, and life suit among their starting equipment.
Zones, regions where magic itself has worn thin and torn, These pieces of technology allow them perform basic
preventing any magic or magical technology, such as Dark software tasks, communicate up to a mile, and survive in
Matter engines, from functioning. These vast swathes of the vacuum of space, respectively.
space are death traps to spacers, but also contain blissfully Ship Combat
ignorant and wholly uncontacted nonmagical worlds. Ship combat in Dark Matter works just the same as normal
Maw Stations combat, using AC, attack rolls, and saving throws. With the
Dotted throughout the galaxy are space stations—the following changes:
Maws—built within massive, antediluvian skeletons from • Characters in ship combat assume roles, such as Captain
some forgotten race of space beasts. Clutched within the or Gunner, which allow them to control an aspect of the
jaws of each is a pitch-black portal to the Void, which allows ship.
spacers to jump from one station to another. Together, the • Ships use mega hit points and mega damage, each worth
maws form a cross-galactic Dark Matter transit network that one hundred normal points.
forms the ‘verse’s civilizations. Each maw station is a vibrant • Similarly, mega spells and Mega-sized creatures exist
multicultural spaceport, a bastion to adventurers and spacers. exclusively for space combat.
No one living knows the origin of the maw stations, • Ships use facing rules to determine movement and attacks.
but they may be tied to the ancient and enigmatic Sepulcher Weapons aim in a 90-degree range from the side on which
Star, which orbits the galaxy’s central black hole. This they are mounted.
star has become a holy-site for the avia-ra, a race of sun- • To approximate momentum, ships move in a cone,
worshipping zealots, who believe that an ancient deity of extending from their front. They can rotate after moving.
untold power, the Old Un, lives or slumbers within the star’s • Mega spells are a category of spells intended for use in
heart. In deference to their religion of the Sun Above, (and to space combat, but a spellcaster can turn a normal spell
defend their claim on the star), the avia-ra have constructed a into a mega one using a ship’s arcane cannon.
holy city, the Solar Citadel, in orbit around the star.

magehandpress dark matter

Amoeboid Orc
Amoeboids are intelligent, Orcs are muscular, down-
vaguely humanoid-shaped, to-earth humanoids with
translucent oozes that can green skin and imposing
mimic the form of any builds.
creature they touch.
Racial Traits
Racial Traits +2 Strength, +1
+2 Intelligence, +2 Constitution, Darkvision,
Constitution, Flexible Form, Follow Through, Know-
Amorphous, Reform How, Powerful Build

Avia-Ra Skathári
The avia-ra are a sun- Hardy insectoids hailing
worshiping, bird-headed from the deadliest of
people, who appear to planets, skathári distrust
primitive cultures to spread technology of all kinds.
their ancient religion.
Racial Traits
Racial Traits +2 Strength, +1
+2 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity, Constitution, Adaptive
Darkvision, Avia-Ra Metabolism, Gliding Wings,
Weapon Training, Doctrine, Powerful Build, Hooked
Blessings of the Sun, Sun’s Claws, Regenerative
Chosen

Nautilid Vect
The hulking, fishlike Living constructs, vect
nautilids wear great water- tirelessly search for the
filled suits wherever they meaning behind the “Spark”
travel, as they search the of life.
galaxy for a new, ocean-
filled homeworld. Racial Traits
+2 Constitution, +1 to
Racial Traits any score, Thermalsight,
+2 Strength, +1 Construct Anatomy,
Intelligence, Amphibious, Inflexible Mind, Embedded
Powerful Build, Deductive, Armor
Aqua Suit

Near-Human Wrothian
Human variant Renegades of a fearsome
The abundant varieties of near-humans run the gamut race of terrible, psionic
from green-skinned, to beastlike, to utterly bizarre. creatures, wrothians are
outcasts in every corner of
Racial Traits the ‘verse.
+1 to two ability scores, proficiency in 1 skill,
Near-Human Feat Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +1 Charisma,
Darkvision, Neural Lock,
Razor Teeth, Repletion,
Telepathy

dark matter