Ker Nethalas: Into the Midnight Throne - FAQ

I'll be updating this post as more questions come in. If you have any, please ask in the comments below!

Are there classes in the game?

Yes and no. The game has a series of Masteries, which work kind of like classes, but not really. They are more like archetypes that offer you a series of skills, both active and passive, but don't necessarily tie you to a specific role, especially when you take into account that you can combine them with each other to create different builds. New characters start with 2 Masteries unlocked, and a third one can be unlocked via gear.

Are there different races, ancestries, etc.?

No, you're just a regular human, in a human-only setting. 

How does leveling up and character progression work?

Each time you accrue 1,000 Experience Points, you level up. You earn XP via combat, exploration, and other means. Once you level up, you roll on an advancement table that can increase your stats in varied ways. You also earn Enhancement Points that are used to learn new Mastery Abilities. 

Skills on the other hand have the chance of being increased each time you roll doubles while making a check.

What's the ruleset like?

Ker Nethalas: Into the Midnight Throne uses a D100 ruleset, very similar to Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP). This means that all skills are percentual: you roll a D100 die, compare the result with your skill, and if the result is equal to or lower than your score, you are successful. This is a skill-based system, there ae no attributes, other than Health, Toughness, Sanity or Aether.

How does magic work?

All magical abilities are fueled by Aether. Your character has a pool of Aether points that they can spend to cast spells. In combat, this pool is limited, because it only replenishes naturally after combat. Out of combat most magic abilities can be used freely, although many have some other type of limitations. 

Characters do not need to make any checks in order to use their magic Abilities; they are ingrained and are completely second nature to them so they just happen. Your targets still have the chance to defend against them, though!

How does combat work?

Combat is an opposed skill check: both combatants roll simultaneously and the highest roll wins the exchange. There are other details to take into consideration; if you want to read a more detailed explanation, please read this update.

How does dungeon exploration work?

You go room by room, generating each room or corridor, one at a time. This can be either both the shape and appearance, or just its contents, encounters, and events if you're using a pre-existing map, or any map you like that you find on the Internet. Everything is randomized via the dozens of tables found in the book.

Is there a town to go back to between runs or some type of overworld?

You are trapped in Ker Nethalas, trying both to find a way out and to simply survive. There are wandering merchants you can trade with if you find them, but that's it. Any rest or refuge you find is the one you create for yourself.

What are the consequences of dying?

When your character reaches 0 Health that's it, game over. Time to start a new character. Alternatively, for those wanting to have a more "roguelike" experience, you can use the optional rules that allow you to continue with the same character after being technically killed. With them, you are left for dead instead of straight up killed: you recover all your Health and Sanity, but lose some progress.

How does Sanity work?

Each time your character has the chance to lose Sanity due to facing some horrifying creature or because of the effects of some random event (among other things), they must make a Resolve check. A failure results in them losing Sanity. Lose enough of it, and you'll end up breaking down. When this happens, you recover all your Sanity, but you must make a roll on the Madness table, which believe me, it's not a good thing.

How does gear and loot work?

Gear works how you would expect it to: you find weapons, armor, or any other items that can be useful in a dungeon, equip them (using the slot-based inventory, so no wearing two helmets or three pairs of pants at once), and as long as you don't destroy them, they'll serve you well. If you do damage your weapons or armor you can always repair them at camp.

There are plenty of items to find, and each enemy you kill will grant you a roll on the appropriate loot table, with a small chance of rolling one of the randomly generated magic items. If you're lucky enough, maybe you'll find one of the very rare and powerful artifacts, too!

How does generating a magic item work?

Although there are a few minor already generated magic items in the game, the interesting ones are created randomly, on the fly, when you loot them. In order to do so, you must roll to see what type of item you found (a weapon, armor, piece of clothing, or something else), then determine its rarity to see how many magic properties it has. Each type of item has its own table of magical properties, so there are literally thousands of different combinations, and you can have a new item ready to use with just a couple of dice rolls.

What do you do at camp?

Camping is crucial in Ker Nethalas: Into the Midnight Throne. If you don't rest properly, you'll accrue Exhaustion, which is not a good thing when you're trying to survive in a hostile environment. In order to properly rest you'll need to find an empty, relatively clean room, fortify it (or not, but I would if I were you), and cook yourself some food. You can also craft torches, repair your gear, identify any magic items you've found, and many other things. Knowing when it's time to camp is a crucial part of the game, even if it's always a risk!

What's the end goal?

The only goal in Ker Nethalas: Into the Midnight Throne is to improve your character and survive. Since it's a procedurally generated game you can play it infinitely. Eventually, you'll max out your Masteries, and you'll have the best gear available, so it might be time to call it a day and start with a different character.

If that's not reason enough for you to play, there are also Personal Goals: there are dozens of these in the game that you can choose, although you can only pursue two different ones at a time. Each time you complete a personal goal you'll get a reward, from stat boosts, to new abilities, and more.

Here are a couple of them:

- Brawler: Defeat 50 opponents with the Unarmed Combat & Fist Weapons skill. Reward: +1 damage while wielding a fist weapon or completely unarmed

- Cold Damage Expert: Deal 200 Cold damage. Reward: Gain 1 Cold damage reduction

- Living Shadow: Surprise 50 opponents. Reward: You gain the Living Shadow Perk