Beyond The Shroud Revived [4.5]

Beyond The Shroud Revived [4.5]

The Shroud has changed. What waits beyond it has not.

Beyond The Shroud Revived is an unofficial continuation of Beyond The Shroud by JeVaisFaireForgeron, rebuilt for Stellaris 4.5.

Beyond The Shroud greatly expands the psionic side of Stellaris. Instead of ending with a Covenant and a handful of Shroud interactions, it gives psionic empires an additional layer of progression built around the legacy of the Zroni, the Traveller From Beyond, the Labyrinth of Abstraction, strange technologies, abstract entities, relics, Shroud manipulation and eventually mastery over concepts such as Time, Space and Energy.

Revived brings that experience into modern Stellaris while preserving the atmosphere and design of the original mod.

What Beyond The Shroud Adds

• In the Footsteps of the Zroni, a dedicated origin built around an ancient trail that eventually leads to the Zroni and the Psionic Archive. Nomadic Empires receive their own opening, following the scattered traces of an unknown civilization across the stars.

• The Traveller From Beyond, a unique Greater Patron that may replace the Whisperers in the Void, with its own Accords, Covenant, Psionic Aura, powers, Sanctum and leader.

• The Labyrinth of Abstraction, a unique world and progression system devoted to studying and reshaping the boundary between material reality and the Shroud.

• Specialized Labyrinth districts, buildings and jobs focused on perception, influence, materialization, conceptual research and the manipulation of unreality.

• Abstract Entities that can be summoned into physical space, from the Formless Concept and Irrational Will to the Insatiable Paradox.

• Conceptual Mastery, culminating in one of three paths devoted to Time, Space or Energy, each with its own traditions, effects and relic.

• New psionic technologies involving Zro, Psionic Auras, Shroud interaction and other forms of immaterial manipulation.

• Additional Astral Rift and Shroud-related progression, relics, portals and other late-game tools for psionic empires.

The result is not simply a stronger psionic ascension path. It is a longer journey into increasingly strange territory, where the Shroud stops being somewhere you occasionally visit and becomes something your civilization learns to study, shape and eventually force into forms it was never meant to possess.

The Labyrinth of Abstraction

At the heart of the mod lies the Labyrinth of Abstraction. The Labyrinth is not simply another megastructure. It is an artificial environment built to study the boundary between thought, matter and the Shroud. Its inhabitants observe what lies beyond reality, reshape minds, materialize concepts and gradually learn to summon things that should not possess physical form.

As the Labyrinth develops, it becomes the gateway to Conceptual Mastery:

Time. Space. Energy.

And eventually, if enough minds are offered to the impossible, something far less controllable.

The Traveller From Beyond

After encountering the Whisperers in the Void, you may discover that something else has been watching. The Traveller From Beyond is a complete Greater Patron integrated into the modern Shadows of the Shroud system, with its own Accords, Covenant, Psionic Aura, Covenant Powers, Sanctum, unique leader and related events. The Traveller focuses heavily on exploration, movement and the stranger regions between conventional space and the Shroud.

Revived for Stellaris 4.5

Revived is not simply the old mod with a new version number. Stellaris has changed substantially since Beyond The Shroud was created, so its systems have been reviewed and adapted to the current 4.5 framework rather than blindly carried forward.

Among other things, Revived restores and updates:

• The Labyrinth, its districts, buildings and unique jobs under the modern population system.

• Psionic progression for organic empires, individualist machines, Hive Minds and Machine Intelligences where applicable.

• Abstract Entity summoning and its progression.

• Conceptual Mastery and the Time, Space and Energy paths.

• Shroud Portals and the Shroud Nexus.

• The Traveller From Beyond under the modern Greater Patron system.

• Support for Nomadic Empires across the Zroni Origin, Labyrinth progression, Waystation infrastructure, Shroud Portals, Astral Studies and the Traveller From Beyond.

• Numerous older scripts and mechanics that no longer behaved correctly under current Stellaris.

Where possible, gameplay and balance remain faithful to the original design. Some values have been adjusted where the old numbers no longer make sense under modern Stellaris. The most visible example is the final Labyrinth summon: manifesting the Insatiable Paradox now requires 6,000 Unreality Shapers instead of 10,000. The sacrifice remains enormous, but no longer requires turning the Labyrinth into an absurd population sink simply to satisfy a number designed around an older population system. The goal is not to redesign Beyond The Shroud, but to make its original vision work properly again and carefully finish what can be finished without losing what made the mod distinctive.

Languages

• English — included.

• Russian — complete Russian localisation is included directly in Revived. No separate localisation mod is required.

Compatibility Notes

• This is a standalone continuation. Do not run the original Beyond The Shroud together with Revived.

• Regular Hive Minds and Machine Intelligences are supported by the Labyrinth.

• Nomadic Empires are supported, including the Zroni Origin, Labyrinth progression, Waystation-based infrastructure and the Traveller From Beyond.

• Archaeo-Splitting remains exclusive to settled empires.

• The special Wilderness empire type is currently not supported by the Labyrinth's worker-count and sacrifice mechanics because Wilderness uses a fundamentally different zero-pop workforce system.

A new game is recommended. Revived can technically be added to an existing save, particularly if the empire has not yet progressed deeply into the Shroud. However, some event chains and Shroud states cannot always be initialized retroactively. For the intended full experience, start a new campaign.

Required DLC

• Utopia

• Apocalypse

• Ancient Relics Story Pack

• Galactic Paragons

• Astral Planes

• Shadows of the Shroud

Beyond the Shroud: The Crisis

The crisis is no longer only a possibility. Development has begun on the unfinished crisis path originally planned for Beyond The Shroud. The surviving work of the original author is being reconstructed piece by piece, adapted to modern Stellaris and expanded only where there is a clear foundation to build upon. This is a much larger undertaking than the revival itself, and there is no release date. I would rather leave something beyond the Shroud unseen than release it broken.

But the path is being opened.

Original Mod & Credits

All original concepts, writing, assets and design belong to JeVaisFaireForgeron.

Original Beyond The Shroud Workshop page

This revival is published with the original author's permission. My work focuses on maintaining, repairing and adapting Beyond The Shroud for the current version of Stellaris, while remaining as close as possible to its original vision and continuing unfinished work only where there is a clear foundation to build upon.