Sponsorship

Though it answers directly to the Emperor of France, the Ministère operates autonomously, with funding channeled through phantom corporations like Celestial Enterprises and Zephyr Dynamics.

In recent years, high-level liaisons from the Arcane Collegium and MystiCore Dynamics have become "informal sponsors," supplying psionic agents and prototype magic-tech devices for field testing. There are whispers that some aristocrats in the Senate are trying to reign in the Ministère — but few dare speak their names once the shadows take notice.

Typical Members

Elves serve as elegant infiltrators and information brokers, often embedded in diplomatic circles. Their longevity allows them to play deep-cover roles for decades.

Dwarves, particularly Stormborn and Emberborn, are specialists in magical encryption, surveillance artifacts, and mechanical sabotage. Their crafting is essential for arcane tech deployment.

Orcs and Half-Orcs are the “shadow fists,” used for extraction, black-ops, and intimidation. Many are former military defectors now loyal to the cause through loyalty oaths and magical bindings.

Humans often fill administrative and operational roles, but psionically-gifted humans are the most commonly field-deployed agents due to their adaptability and raw influence.

Favored Prestige Classes of the Ministère de l’Ombre

The Ministère doesn’t recruit. It chooses. And those it selects are often trained or transitioned into one of several elite roles that define the Ministry’s influence across nations and shadows alike.

Psionic Agent

The Mind Is the Sharpest Blade

No class better represents the inner sanctum of the Ministère than the Psionic Agent. Trained in mental infiltration, subtle manipulation, and memory alteration, these operatives serve as interrogators, informants, and walking lie detectors. They are often assigned to monitor embassy staff, influence foreign leaders, or erase inconvenient truths.

Many Psionic Agents are recruited directly from the Arcane Collegium’s secret Cognitive Division, a department that denies its own existence.

Infiltrator

Faces Are Masks. Lies Are Tools.

The Infiltrator class is the backbone of external operations. These agents specialize in disguise, forgery, evasion, and seduction. Used for deep-cover missions in rival empires (like New Portugal or Great Britain), they often operate for years before revealing their true allegiance. Elves and half-elves are particularly favored for this role due to their charisma and extended lifespans.

The Ministry rarely assigns two infiltrators to the same target. It’s safer if only one person holds the truth.

Field Scientist

Innovation Wielded in Silence

Though less seen in the field, Field Scientists are vital to the Ministry’s arsenal. These agents craft tech-magic hybrids: surveillance drones, portable illusion emitters, and psychic jammers. Often Dwarves or Gnomes, they are responsible for outfitting squads and quietly sabotaging enemy infrastructure — or installing it under the guise of “civilian upgrades.”

It is said one Field Scientist built a remote-controlled assassination device into a bouquet of enchanted roses. The victim died smiling.

Notable Members

Maréchal Alouen Serrant – A psionic tactician known as “The Whisper General”, Serrant orchestrated the silent coup of the Tunisian port authority in 1887 without a single French soldier being seen.

Jasmina Vael (Rainforest Elf) – Deep-cover agent posing as a noble attaché in New Portugal. Suspected of triggering the “Night of Severed Ties,” where five opposition leaders died in untraceable accidents.

Bastien Rochefort – An artificer who crafts magical surveillance constructs shaped like insects. Suspected of installing enchanted scry nodes in every government seat from Paris to New Calcutta.

Practices & Philosophy

The Ministère recruits for talent, not loyalty — loyalty can be bought, bound, or blackmailed.

Magical and psionic aptitude is highly favored. Recruits often undergo psychic reconditioning and geas-binding to prevent betrayal.

All agents operate under codenames and cell structures. Exposure of one cell doesn't compromise others.

The organization values results over morality, efficiency over legality. However, internal codes (The Shadow Laws) do exist, primarily to prevent infighting and rogue behavior. Those who violate them are “recalled,” which no one survives.

Adventure Hooks & Plot Threads

A demihuman agent seeks to defect, offering secrets that could unravel the Ministère's grip — but they're being hunted by shadow operatives.

A magical artifact created by a rogue Ministère inventor has gone missing. Whoever finds it controls a piece of the empire’s surveillance web.

The Ministry seeks to replace a faction leader with a lookalike. The players may be hired to stop (or protect) the imposter.