Overview
Beyonders (超凡者 chāofánzhě, literally 'extraordinary persons') are the supernaturally empowered humans of Lord of Mysteries. The term covers anyone who has successfully digested a Beyonder potion and become a member of one of the 22 Pathways. Every player character is a Beyonder, every major boss in the campaign is a Beyonder, and every faction in the world organises itself around its Beyonder ranks.
The Beyonder system is adapted directly from the source material by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving (see Source Material). The game keeps the core structure intact (22 Pathways, 10-Sequence ladder, Acting Method requirement, and the Sanity cost of mysticism) while adapting the moment-to-moment loop into an MMORPG shape with real-time combat, explicit ability slots, and instanced group content.
Becoming a Beyonder
Mortals become Beyonders by drinking a brewed Beyonder potion (see Potions and Ingredients). Successful digestion grants supernatural abilities tied to the chosen Pathway and admits the new Beyonder into Sequence 9 of that Pathway, the lowest tier. Failed digestion is dangerous: outcomes range from temporary madness, through permanent corruption into a Beyonder Monster, all the way to outright death.
The character creator presents the player's first potion ceremony as the climax of the introductory Act. Success is scripted at character creation, but every later potion ceremony is gated behind Acting and sanity thresholds and can fail.
The 22 Pathways
There are 22 standard Pathways in the world, each themed around a divine archetype borrowed from Western occult symbolism (the 22 paths of the Tree of Life, the 22 major arcana of the Tarot). Each Pathway has 10 Sequences, ladder-numbered from Sequence 9 (entry) up to Sequence 0 (god-tier). Six of the 22 Pathways are playable in the Crimson Test, with three publicly confirmed: the Seer Pathway, the Apprentice Pathway, and the Spectator Pathway. The Assassin Pathway and Hunter Pathway are explicitly not in this beta.
See the Pathways page for the full 22-Pathway roster and the Sequences page for the Sequence-ladder structure.
Acting Method
Acting is the discipline that lets a Beyonder claim higher Sequences without losing themselves. Each Sequence has an Archetype (a personality template), and the player must roleplay that Archetype to advance safely. Acting Method in the game is measured across three meters (Resonance, Discipline, Understanding) and gates potion digestion, ability mastery tiers, and faction reputation.
Without Acting, even the safest potion can drive a Beyonder mad. With Acting, the same potion digests cleanly and unlocks the higher tier of every Sequence ability.
Sanity and Madness
Beyonder powers come from outside the natural world. Using them taxes the user's sanity: every Beyonder ability costs sanity, every potion ceremony costs sanity, and witnessing high-Sequence rituals costs sanity. Drop too low and the character drifts toward Madness, an explicit set of in-game states ranging from temporary instability through permanent transformation into a Beyonder Monster.
Sanity Level is also the game's character level meter; the higher the level, the larger the safe sanity budget per session.
Pathway Groups
The 22 Pathways are grouped by canonical adjacency: each Pathway sits inside a 'Sefirot group' alongside one or more neighbouring Pathways. High-Sequence Beyonders can perform a 'pathway switch' ritual to consolidate two Pathways under a single Archetype, but the ritual is rare, costly, and gated behind late-game progression. The Crimson Test does not surface the system; players choose one Pathway and progress within it for the duration of the test.
Beyonder Organisations
Most Beyonders work for one of the world's organised supernatural bodies. The Seven Orthodox Churches each maintain Beyonder operative arms (the Nighthawks under the Church of the Evernight Goddess being the most prominent in Tingen). The Mandated Punishers operate as joint-Church enforcement; the Machinery Hivemind serves the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. Outside the Churches, the Tarot Club operates as a peer-information ritual under Klein Moretti's 'Mr. Fool' identity, while player guilds organise themselves on the same model under the in-game Divination Clubs system.
Player characters can affiliate with the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, the Machinery Hivemind, and other Beyonder factions through the reputation system.
Player Beyonders vs. Klein Moretti
The player is not Klein Moretti. Klein appears as an in-game NPC, and the player encounters his canonical history through 'Mr. Fool' visions during the campaign. The player's Beyonder is original to the player and may take any of the available Pathways. See Character Creation for naming and Pathway selection details.