GIFFYGLYPH'S

DARKER DUNGEONS

Create dangerous adventures for your D&D 5e

game with new rules options
• GIFFYGLYPH •
 Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons

O unforgiving wilds and the ancient ruins of the

long dead. Monsters, dungeons, danger, and
death—life as an adventurer is a hard-won
challenge, though not without reward. Treasure, fame,
Features
• Create randomised characters and level 0 rookies.
• A new and easy-to-use inventory system.
• Track hunger, thirst, and fatigue in your characters
ancient artifacts, and forbidden knowledge—the greater with survival conditions.
the risk, the greater your prize. • Spread plague and sickness with deadly diseases.
Explore forgotten corners of the world and make new • Add risk to spellcasting with magical burnout.
discoveries. Manage your resources and make the most • Enhance long-distance travel with the journey phase.
of your skills to survive. Gain fame, fortune, and power in • Drive characters mad with stress and afflictions.
your grand adventures—or fall into ruin, despair, and • Give combat some bite with wounds and injuries.
madness like so many have before you. • Transform your combat scenes with active defence
Be smart, be careful, and be brave. Light your torch and active initiative.
and tread wisely into Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons... • And many more...

About Credits & Influences

Version 2.1 Mental Stress: Darkest Dungeon
Created by Giffyglyph, March 2019 Inventory: Matt Rundle's Anti-Hammerspace
Weapon Notches: James Young's Ten Foot Polemic
Usage Die: The Black Hack
If you like this project and want to see more in the Journeys & Travel: The Angry GM, AiME
future, you can help out by: Advice & Testing: 1d4damage, a8bmiles, ace_of_shovels,
• Becoming a Patron: patreon.com/giffyglyph Android117, baronbadass1, coldermoss,
• Buying a Coffee: ko-fi.com/giffyglyph darkstreetlights123, Durins_cat,
• Spreading the word: like / tweet / share / review EADreddtit, grit-glory-games, Necoya,
heimdall237, LeVentNoir, Spilled Ale
Studios, warpwalkers, zeemeerman2
To keep up-to-date with my work, visit:
• My website: www.giffyglyph.com
• Reddit: reddit.com/r/darkerdungeons5e Sigil Patrons
• Facebook: facebook.com/giffyglyph
Supported By: Ady Veisz Dragia, Brady, Douglas, J.M.
Sunden, Herm, Iron Circle Gaming
If you have any questions, contact me at:
• Discord: Giffyglyph#7632
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: twitter.com/giffyglyph Become a Patron

patreon.com/giffyglyph | /r/darkerdungeons5e giffyglyph's darker dungeons

1
 Contents

Setting Up 3 • List of Oils 34 • Spreading Disease 64

• Themes 3 • Diagnosis 65
Part 3: Taking Action
• How to get Started 3 • Magical Healing 65
• Modes of Play 4 12 Taking Action 36 • Magical Immunity 65
• Open Skills 36 • Disease Compendium 66
Part 1: Your Character
• Social Interaction 36
23 Survival Conditions 69
1 Character Creation 6 • Help 37
• Your Conditions 69
• Random Characters 6 • Teamwork 37
• Exhaustion 70
• Creation Dials 10 • Initiative 37
• Stamina Check 71
• Tools 37
2 Rookie Characters 11 • Variant: Temperature 71
• Knowledge Checks 37
• Creating a Rookie 11
24 Stress & Afflictions 72
• Destiny Points 12 13 Active Defence 38
• Stress 72
• Monsters & Traps 12 • Defence Rolls 38
• Afflictions 75
• Adventure Seeds 13 • Saving Attacks 39
• Variant: Small Defence 39 Part 5: Rest & Downtime
3 Feature Changes 14
• Common 14 14 Active Initiative 40 25 Short Rest 77
• Spells 15 • The Dynamic Round 40 • Taking a Short Rest 77
• Interrupting 41 • Setting Up Camp 78
4 Racial Changes 16
• Example of Play 41 • Ambushed! 80
• Dragonborn 16
• Useful Magic Spells 81
• Human 16 15 Degrees of Success 42
• Variant: Conditions 81
• Halfling 16 • Success & Failure 42
• Variant: Stress 81
• Lizardfolk 16 • Examples of Play 43
• Yuan-ti Pureblood 16 26 Long Rest 82
16 Active XP 44
• Taking a Long Rest 82
5 Class Changes 17 • Advancement 44
• Variant: Stress 84
• Druid 17 • Awarding Experience 45
• Random Rumors 84
• Paladin 17
17 Dangerous Magic 47
• Ranger 17 27 Leveling Up 85
• Burnout 47
• Warlock 17 • Training 85
• Regional Magic 49
• Mentors 86
Part 2: Equipment • Custom Consequences 49
Appendicies: The Extras
6 Inventory Space 19 18 Making a Journey 50
• Slot-based Inventory 19 • The Journey Phase 50 A Random Tables 88
• Variant: Quickdraw 23 • Roles 51 • Proficiencies 88
• Variant: Containers 24 • Travelling Pace 52 • Features 88
• Encounters 53 • Class Skills 89
7 Wear & Tear 25
• Encounter Seeds 54 • Spells 89
• Item Degradation 25
• Wild Shape 91
• Tempering Gear 26 Part 4: Life & Death
• Item Quality 27 B FAQ 92
19 Wounds & Injuries 57
8 Ammunition 28 • Bloodied 57 C Sheets & Trackers 95
• The Ammunition Die 28 • Lingering Wounds 57 • Character Sheets 96
• Permanent Injuries 58 • Equipment Tracker 100
9 Potions 29
• Prosthetics 59 • Spellbook 104
• Magical Potions 29
• Calendar Day 105
• Potion of Healing 30 20 Death & Resurrection 60
• Calendar Week 106
• Potion of Stamina 30 • Dying 60
• Calendar Month 107
• Death 61
10 Flasks 31 • Journey Tracker 108
• Resurrection 61
• Magical Flasks 31
D Quick Reference 109
• Getting a Flask 32 21 Cheating Fate 62
• Filling your Flask 32 • Fate Points 62 E What Next? 112
• Monster Maker 112
11 Oils 33 22 Deadly Disease 63
• Monster Maker App 112
• Magical Oils 33 • Contracting Disease 63
• Creating Oils 33 • Living with Disease 64

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 Setting Up

G
' D D
toolkit you can use to help add a little grit and
danger to your D&D 5e games.
How to get Started
Rather than focus on new content (classes, It's easy to start using Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons in
monsters, spells, etc), this supplement expands the your D&D 5e game—just follow these 5 simple steps:
underlying mechanics of 5e with some brand new
systems to let you customise your game in whatever 1. Pick the features: Decide which rules to include in
fashion you like. If players are tearing through your your game. If you're modifying an already-active game,
dungeons and monsters without fear, this toolkit might trying adding just one or two features at a time so
help to put some bite back into your adventures. players aren't too overwhelmed.
2. Talk with your players: Tell your players what you'll
be doing and why. Some of features in this
Themes supplement change the default 5e experience, so you
should make sure that all players are aware of what
There are 7 major themes that this supplement tries to you're changing and be comfortable with it.
address with a variety of new features and mechanics: 3. Experiment: You might find some features don't fit
with your particular game or setting after all. That's
1. Attrition: Everything breaks, eventually. Characters ok, not every rule works for everyone—swap features
gain wounds, lose limbs, and go mad from stress, in and out as best suits your table, or change rules to
while gear becomes chipped, damaged, and broken. create your own custom variant.
2. Inventory: A restricted inventory is an interesting 4. Have fun: Start playing. Enjoy your game!
inventory. Carrying just the right item can mean the 5. Feedback: If you have a notable experience using this
difference between life and death—so choose wisely. supplement in your game, I'd love to hear about it.
3. Survival: Everyone needs to eat, drink, and sleep. Constructive feedback is greatly appreciated, so let
Basic survival is a core theme of many adventures me know how it worked out at your table. Thanks!
where starvation and exhaustion are a genuine threat.
4. Time: It takes a long time to achieve something Every Table is Different
significant. The world evolves as weeks, months, and
years pass by. Downtime is an important part of life. Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons is a modular ruleset—tweak,
5. Travel: The wilds are dark and dangerous, and long- replace, and cut out any bits you want. Don't like random
distance travel is a core part of the adventure. character generation? Ignore it. Prefer your own initiative
6. Wealth: Gold is important and everyone wants it. system? Keep it. Think inventory is too limited? Extend it.
Wealth is the key to power—or at the very least, the These rules are written as I would run a game, but every
key to a life of comfort. table is different. Take whichever rules you think are good for
7. Agency: Players drive the game forward—their your own game, leave the rest aside, and have fun.
actions, choices, and consequences determine what ~ Giffyglyph 2019
happens throughout the game.
patreon.com/giffyglyph | /r/darkerdungeons5e setting up
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 • Mortal Injuries: Add mortal injuries to make players
Modes of Play fear falling to 0 hit points from your big bads.
• Rest & Downtime: Add a more realistic time scale to
This supplement contains many features and tweaks, your game by making a long rest take 1 whole week.
and not all are equal—some impact the game and tone • Stress & Afflictions: Track the mental well-being of
more drastically than others. characters and any potential breakdowns.
For convenience, the rules have been grouped into • Survival Conditions: Track the physical state of
three broad modes of play: Radiant, Dark, and Astral. characters to highlight resources like food and water.
Pick and choose the features that are the right fit for • Training: Make characters pay gold and train with a
your own game and start playing. mentor if they wish to level up.
• Wear & Tear: Track equipment damage and allow
Mode 1. Radiant characters to repair and temper their gear.
These features can be dropped into almost any 5e game Mode 3. Astral
without any significant tonal changes. These introduce
small tweaks and changes with a focus on immersion These features change core parts of the vanilla 5e
and non-combat activities. experience. Use these if you want to modify some of the
underlying mechanics of your game.
• Ammunition Dice: Track ammunition using abstract
terms and ammunition dice instead of per-arrow. • Active Defence: Replace monster attack rolls with
• Assistance: Allow characters to assist each other player defence rolls to make your players feel more
with passive bonuses and prevent characters rerolling active and engaged during combat.
for multiple tries at the same task. • Active Initiative: Allow players to choose who acts
• Cheat Fate: Allow characters to escape certain death next for more dynamic combat by replacing turn-
with rare and elusive fate points. based initiative with active initiative.
• Degrees of Success: Add a success-at-a-cost option • Active XP: Reward players with XP for finding
for characters to make failed rolls more interesting. treasure and bringing it back to town.
• Inventory Space: Add a slot-based inventory system • Feature and Spell Changes: Change some character
that focuses on item size and placement, not weight. features, skills, and spells to modify power levels to
• Knowledge Checks: As the DM, roll character better support low power gameplay.
knowledge checks in secret to provide misinformation • Intelligent Initiative: Switch initiative to use INT
and misleads if they fail. instead of DEX to make intelligence more significant.
• Long-distance Journeys: Make long-distance travel • Race & Class Changes: Tweak your races and classes
more interesting with a Journey phase and travelling with a variety of small updates for some improved
responsibilities. balance and to better support the other modules in
• Open Skill Checks: Decouple skills from abilities, this supplement.
allowing any skill to be used with any relevant ability • Random Character Generation: Create characters
modifier for variety. randomly using a d100 and random tables.
• Potions, Flasks, & Oils: Add new consumables for • Rookie Characters: Create classless rookie
players to find and buy on their adventures. characters for a low-powered, dangerous adventure.
• Social Interaction: Allow Intelligence and Wisdom to
be used appropriately in social situations, allowing
non-Charisma characters to contribute more. A DM wants to make a small tweak to their existing
• Tools: Make tools and proficiencies more valuable by campaign and just replace the vanilla inventory system.
granting additional bonuses. They choose the Inventory module with the Quickslot
variant—later switching to the Containers variant once
Mode 2. Dark everyone becomes more comfortable.
These features make combat more dangerous and life A second DM wants to make long-distance travel
generally harder for characters. Use these to darken the more involving in their game, and chooses the Journey
tone of your game or put more strain on resources. Phase module. They also add in Survival Conditions to
highlight the need for food and water. Later in the
• Dangerous Magic: Make magic a bigger risk for your game, the DM references the Deadly Disease module
casters with magical burnout and consequences.
• Deadly Disease: Make sickness and plague a serious when the party ends up in a foul, rat-infested sewer.
threat with escalating diseases and contagion checks. A third DM is creating a brand new Lovecraftian-
• Death Saving Throws: Make death a bigger risk with themed campaign in the "West Marches" style. After
persistent death saving throw failures. talking it over with their group, they opt to use the
• Item Quality: Track the quality of items, affecting entire ruleset. After a few sessions, the DM decides
their value and how they are treated by NPCs.
• Lingering Wounds: Add persistent wounds to ensure they miss rolling dice for monster attacks—they drop
falling to 0 hit points has a lasting impact. Active Defence and return to the vanilla mechanics.

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 PART 1
Your Character

1 Character Creation p6
p6
Options for randomised 1st-level characters.

2 Rookie Characters p11

p11
Run dangerous 0th-level adventures with rookies.

3 Feature Changes p14

p14
A variety of small changes and balance updates.

4 Racial Changes p16

p16
Small updates to some racial features.

5 Class Changes p17

p17
Small updates to some class features.
 1

Character Creation

B
Races are not weighted equally, so some—such as
uncharted wilds, you'll need a character. D&D 5e human—will be more common than others. The exact
characters are heroes, capable of great feats even breakdown of this may depend on your campaign setting.
at 1st-level—but we don't always get to choose who Some races have additional choices to make—
or what we are in life. Sometimes, we just have to roll ancestry, proficiencies, languages, etc. Pick these at
the dice and see what happens. random using the tables listed in Appendix A (p88).
This chapter introduces support for randomised
characters and a variety of optional creation dials to help Subrace
customise your game. If your race also requires you to choose a subrace, roll on
the Character Subraces table to determine the result.
Random Characters Character Subrace
With randomised characters, your core details are Race d100 Subrace d100 Subrace
determined randomly by a d100. This can result in some
unusual characters, but that's ok—flaws are fun. Aasimar 01-33 Fallen 68-00 Scourge
— —
To create a new and randomly-generated 1st-level 34-67 Protector

character, take a d100 and follow these six simple steps. Dwarf 01-45 Hill 91-00 Duergar
46-90 Mountain — —

Step 1. Race Elf 01-10 Drow 51-60 Sea

11-20 Eladrin 61-70 Shadar-kai
First, determine your character's race by rolling a d100 21-50 High 71-00 Wood
and checking the Character Races table below.
Gith 01-50 Githyanki 51-00 Githzerai

Character Race Gnome 01-45 Forest 91-00 Deep

46-90 Rock — —
d100 Race d100 Race d100 Race
Halfling 01-50 Lightfoot 51-00 Stout
01 Aasimar 40-41 Goliath 93 Monstrous
Monstrous 01-10 Bugbear 51-75 Kobold
02-04 Dragonborn 42 Half-Elf 94 Tabaxi
11-35 Goblin 76-90 Orc
05-19 Dwarf 43 Half-Orc 95-98 Tiefling 36-50 Hobgoblin 91-00 Yuan-ti
20-29 Elf 44-50 Halfling 99 Triton Tiefling 01-12 Asmodeus 57-67 Levistus
30-31 Firbolg 51-90 Human 00 Choose 13-23 Baalzebul 68-78 Mammon
24-34 Dispater 79-89 Mephistopheles
32-33 Gith 91 Kenku — —
35-45 Fierna 90-00 Zariel
34-39 Gnome 92 Lizardfolk — — 46-56 Glasya — —

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 Racial Options Class Specialisations
The racial options listed may not match your own campaign
If your class requires you to choose a specialisation at
setting—modify the tables to best suit your own game. 1st-level, roll on the Class Specialisations table below.
Class Specialisations
Step 2. Background Class d100 Specialty d100 Specialty
Next, roll to see what your character used to do in the
past. This was a career, occupation, or experience which Cleric 01-10 Forge 51-60 Nature
left a profound mark on your character and helped shape Domains 11-20 Grave 61-70 Tempest
them into the person they are today. 21-30
31-40
Knowledge
Life
71-80
81-90
Trickery
War
41-50 Light 91-00 Choose
Character Background
Fighter 01-16 Archery 65-80 Protection
d100 Background d100 Background Fighting 17-32 Defense 81-96 Two-Weapon
01-07 Acolyte 50-56 Noble Styles 33-48 Dueling 97-00 Choose
49-64 Great Weapon — —
08-14 Charlatan 57-63 Outlander
15-21 Criminal 64-70 Sage Sorcerer 01-19 Divine Soul 58-76 Storm Sorcery
Origins 20-38 Draconic Blood 77-95 Wild Magic
22-28 Entertainer 71-77 Sailor
39-57 Shadow Magic 96-00 Choose
29-35 Folk Hero 78-84 Soldier
Warlock 01-19 Archfey 58-76 Great Old One
36-42 Guild Artisan 85-91 Urchin Patrons 20-38 Celestial 77-95 Hexblade
43-49 Hermit 92-00 Choose 39-57 Fiend 96-00 Choose

You gain the proficiencies and languages from your Step 4. Ability Scores
background, but you do not gain any equipment or—
importantly—any special background features. Now you've defined who your character is, it's time to see
If your background has additional choices to make— how capable they are. Follow the five steps below and
tool proficiencies, specialties, languages, businesses, etc randomly generate your ability scores:
—then pick these at random.
1. Roll: Roll 3d6 six times, once for each of your
Characteristics attributes in order: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution,
Once you know your background, randomly select a trait, Intelligence, Wisdom, and finally Charisma.
ideal, bond, and flaw from the characteristics tables. 2. Reroll: Reroll one attribute of your choice and pick
the best result.
Step 3. Class 3. Swap: After your reroll, you may then make one swap
of any two attributes.
Now you know what your character used to be, it's time 4. Racials: Apply your racial bonuses as per normal.
to see what they have become. Roll on the Character 5. Modifiers: Finally, calculate your Ability Modifiers.
Class table below to determine your initial class.
Ability Scores and Modifiers
Character Class
Score Modifier Score Modifier Score Modifier
d100 Class d100 Class d100 Class 01 -5 08-09 -1 16-17 +3
01-08 Barbarian 41-48 Monk 81-88 Warlock
02-03 -4 10-11 +0 18-19 +4
09-16 Bard 49-56 Paladin 89-96 Wizard
04-05 -3 12-13 +1 20-21 +5
17-24 Cleric 57-64 Ranger 97-00 Choose
06-07 -2 14-15 +2 22-23 +6
25-32 Druid 65-72 Rogue — —
33-40 Fighter 73-80 Sorcerer — — Your character may have an unusual ability array, but
that's ok. Learn how to make the best use of your
You gain the features, skills and proficiencies of your strengths while protecting your weak spots.
class, but you do not gain any equipment from it.
Some classes require additional choices to be made— 3d6 Average Array
skills, tools, languages—so generate these randomly,
rerolling any duplicates. If you are a spellcaster, don't roll Rolling 3d6 as described here should create an average
for your spells—you may choose your starting cantrips ability array in the region of [13, 11, 11, 11, 10, 10].
and spells manually as per usual for your class.
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 Viridian, a tiefling bard, is generating his ability scores:
Racial Variations
These descriptions may mean very different things
1. He rolls 3d6 six times to generate a basic array: depending on your race, so bear that in mind—a very short
[STR 14, DEX 13, CON 9, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 5]. elf is very short by elf standards, while a large halfling family
is large by halfling standards.
2. CHA 5 isn't good, especially for a bard, so he makes
one reroll: CHA 15—much better.
3. Viridian then has a difficult choice to make: he Memories
doesn't want high STR, but does he swap it with Roll on this table to generate a significant memory. For
CON or INT? Does he risk being frail or stupid? He each memory, name a unique NPC, faction, or place—
chooses INT (a bard needs a decent vocabulary),
either create your own to add something new into the
world, or use existing lore to help anchor your character
swapping it with STR to make [STR 8, INT 14]. to the campaign setting.
4. Viridian then adds his racial modifiers: +1 INT and
+2 CHA to make [INT 15, CHA 17]. Character Memories
5. Finally, he calculates his total Ability Modifiers.
d100 Memory Description
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
01-20 Achievement A goal you helped complete
8 (-1) 13 (+1) 9 (-1) 15 (+2) 10 (0) 17 (+3)
21-40 Conflict Someone opposed you
Viridian is quick-witted and a skilled charmer with a 41-60 Friendship A close bond forged or tested
sly, lyrical flair. He hates any sort of manual labor and, 61-80 Loss Something precious was taken
while he loves a good drink, gets drunk very quickly. 81-00 Love A love gained or lost

Step 5. Character Details The older you are, the more significant memories you
have—young adult (1), early middle-age (2), late middle-
Now you've established the outline of who your character age (3), old (4), and very old (5).
is, you can start to flesh out some more personal details.
Motivation
Appearance & Family Roll to see what your character's primary motivation in
Use the tables below to determine the basic outlines of life is. This may explain why they became an adventurer,
your age, appearance, distinguishing feature, and family how they react to situations, or what their general goal
background. You can decide the exact details yourself, or is. You can choose exactly how this motivation manifests
discover them organically during gameplay. in your character's actions.
Character Details Character Motivation
d100 Age d100 Height d100 Motivation Description
01-39 Young adult 01-05 Very short 01-06 Achievement To become the best
40-74 Early middle-age 06-30 Short 07-12 Acquisition To obtain possessions or wealth
75-91 Late middle-age 31-70 Average 13-18 Balance To bring all things into harmony
92-97 Old 71-95 Tall 19-24 Beneficence To protect, heal, and mend
98-00 Very old 96-00 Very tall 25-30 Creation To build or make new
d100 Weight d100 Feature 31-36 Discovery To explore, uncover, and pioneer
01-05 Very thin 01-20 Scar 37-42 Education To inform, teach, or train
06-30 Thin 21-40 Tattoo 43-48 Hedonism To enjoy all things sensuous
31-70 Average 41-60 Piercing 49-54 Liberation To free the self and/or others
71-95 Fat 61-80 Birthmark 55-60 Nobility To be virtuous, honest, and brave
96-00 Very fat 81-00 Accent 61-66 Order To organize and reduce chaos
d100 Family d100 Raised By 67-73 Play To have fun, to enjoy life
01-05 None 01-40 Natural Parent(s) 74-79 Power To control and lead others
06-30 Small 41-60 Close Family 80-85 Recognition To gain approval, status, or fame
31-70 Average 61-70 Adopted Parent(s) 86-91 Service To follow a person or group
71-95 Large 71-90 An institution 92-97 Understanding To seek knowledge or wisdom
96-00 Disowned 91-00 Yourself 98-00 Choose —

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Habits Step 6. Feature Tweaks
Everyone has a habit of some sort that they may or may Some character features—such as languages, initiative,
not be aware of—speaking too loud, constant fidgeting, and darkvision—are modified with this supplement to
collecting weird knickknacks, etc. better support a low-powered, darker tone.
Roll on the Character Habits table below to see what Check the Feature Changes section to see if you need
habit your character has picked up during their life, or to update anything for your new character.
pick a notable habit of your own making.
Step 7. Buy Equipment
Character Habits
Now it's time to equip your character. You don't start with
d100 Habit d100 Habit any notable equipment from your background or class—
01-03 Humming 52-54 Snacking instead, you have an amount of gold determined by your
1st-level class.
04-06 Dancing 55-57 Pacing
Check the table below and make a roll to see how
07-09 Sleepwalking 58-60 Counting much gold you have. You can then spend this gold to buy
10-12 Facial tics 61-63 Snoring any starting equipment and supplies.
13-15 Fingernail biting 64-66 Beard/hair stroking
16-18 Daydreaming 67-69 Nose picking
Starting Wealth by Class
19-21 Talking in sleep 70-72 Apologizing Class Gold
22-24 Whistling 73-75 Exaggeration Random Low Average High
Barbarian 2d4 x 10 20 50 80
25-27 Name dropping 74-78 Superstitious
28-30 Constant grooming 79-81 Belching Bard 5d4 x 10 50 120 200
Cleric 5d4 x 10 50 120 200
31-33 Foot tapping 82-84 Repeating others
34-36 Lip biting/licking 85-87 Smelling things Druid 2d4 x 10 20 50 80
Fighter 5d4 x 10 50 120 200
37-39 Coin flipping 88-90 Teeth picking
Monk 5d4 5 12 20
40-42 Chewing 91-93 Swearing
Paladin 5d4 x 10 50 120 200
43-45 Knuckle cracking 94-96 Telling secrets
Ranger 5d4 x 10 50 120 200
46-48 Collects odd things 97-99 Repeating yourself
Rogue 4d4 x 10 40 100 160
49-51 Singing 00 Choose
Sorcerer 3d4 x 10 30 70 120
Warlock 4d4 x 10 40 100 160
Quest
There is something your character is seeking to Wizard 4d4 x 10 40 100 160
accomplish in the short term, either through their own
desires or because someone has compelled them to. Your character may incur living costs during downtime,
Your quest may be tied to your motivation or one of your so you might want to keep some gold spare for expenses.
character's significant memories.
Roll on the Character Quest table to see what theme Random vs. Static
your initial quest takes. You can decide the exact details The DM may nominate whether to use random rolls or
of your task with your DM. static values for starting wealth. With static wealth,
players gain the average gold for their class—unless it is
Character Quest a particularly low or high-wealth game.
d100 Quest Description
Step 8. Take a Fate Point
01-10 Acquire To take possession of a particular item
Fate points allow your character to defy fate and cheat
11-20 Craft To create an item or art piece
death, acting as a second life should you be caught
21-30 Deliver To bring something somewhere unawares by a suddenly fatal action.
31-40 Destroy To destroy a precious object A new character starts with one fate point—a boon for
41-50 Discover To find a person, place, or thing reaching the heights of 1st-level. It's hard to get new fate
51-60 Explore To map out a location
points, so keep it safe and use it wisely.
61-70 Justice
71-80 Learn
To apprehend someone
To gain specific knowledge
Step 9. Venture Forth
81-90 Meet To find someone
Your character is now ready to begin their adventure.
Join the rest of your party, prepare a journey into the
91-00 Vengeance To take revenge on someone untamed wilds, and face the Darker Dungeons below.
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9
 Creation Dials Ability Arrays
These options allow you to customise how players
If you don't want to use fully randomised characters in generate their ability arrays—useful if you want to change
your game, or you want to change character creation in the average base power level of 1st-level characters.
some small ways, try using some of these optional dials.
Higher-powered Rolls
Race, Background, & Class Instead of rolling 3d6 for their ability score, the player
may roll 4d6 and drop the lowest die value.
These options allow you to customise how players pick
their race, background, and class. Use these to give your Roll in any Order
players varying control over the core of their character. Instead of rolling their ability scores in order, the player
may assign their scores in whichever order they wish.
Just One Roll
The player must randomly generate one element: their Shared Party Array
race, background, or class. They may pick the remaining At the start of the game, everyone helps to generate a
two elements manually as normal. shared ability array for the whole party.
Starting from the left of the DM and moving
One Free Reroll clockwise, each player rolls one 3d6 in turn until six
After randomly generating their race, background, and numbers are generated—this becomes the starting ability
class, the player may reroll one element of their choosing array used by all 1st-level characters for the game.
and keep the preferred result.
Static Arrays
One Free Selection Instead of rolling for their ability scores, the player takes
After randomly generating their race, background, and an array of values and assigns them manually to their
class, the player may drop one element of their choosing abilities. The DM chooses the starting power level for the
and replace it with a manual selection. game: low (recommended) or standard.
Opt-in Randomiser • Low power: [15, 12, 11, 10, 9, 7] (18 points)
Players may pick their race, background, and class • Standard power: [15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8] (27 points)
manually. But if a player opts to randomly generate an
element, they gain a reward—the more elements they Feats
choose to randomise, the bigger the final reward.
As an optional mechanic, feats are not active by default—
Opt-in Rewards and are not recommended for low-power games. But if
you do want to include feats in your game, these options
Randomised Reward may help you to control their scope and influence.
One element 10 gp
The Blacklist
Two elements 10 gp, 1 skill point Not all feats are equal. If you want to include feats in
your game but exclude some of the more troublesome
All three elements 10 gp, 1 skill point, 1 ability point
ones, apply a recommended blacklist such as:
The skill point may be added to any skill of your
choosing. The ability point may be added to any of your Blacklist: Players may not take any of these feats.
six abilities—though you cannot raise an ability score • Crossbow Expert • Resilient
above 15 before applying racial modifiers.
• Great Weapon Master • Sentinel
Roll Twice, Pick Once • Lucky • Sharpshooter
When a player rolls for their race, background, and class, • Polearm Master • Spell Sniper
they may roll twice and pick the preferred result.
No Duplicate Feats
Randomised Magic A feat can only be taken once across the entire party—
This option randomises the magic selection for once a feat is taken, it's locked until that character leaves
spellcasters—a good option if you really want to mix the party, dies, or loses the feat by some other means.
things up in your game with some unusual combinations.
If you are a spellcaster—or have gained optional spells Racial Feats Only
through your race or background—roll randomly to Players may only take racial feats. If no appropriate or
generate your starting cantrips and spell lists. After interesting feats are available for their race, you may
randomising your spell collection, you may swap one reskin an existing feat or create a new feat to highlight
cantrip for one of your choosing. an iconic racial power or aspect.
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10
 2

Rookie Characters

I
-
powered adventure—or explore a time before your
characters became notable heroes—use level 0
Creating a Rookie
characters. These rookies have not yet mastered a Creating a new rookie character is easy: simply roll for a
class, relying entirely on their race, background, and wits race, a background, a saving throw, and your ability
to survive. scores—that's it, you're done. Rookies don't gain a class
This chapter introduces rules to create and use rookie until they survive an adventure—or gain 150 XP—and
characters in your adventures. reach 1st-level.
You gain all the skills, proficiencies, equipment, and
wealth of your race and background combined—
Gavil hid, heart pounding, as the town burned. He excluding the background feature. Roll for your
couldn't fight goblins—he was just a butcher! But then characteristics and any other character details.
he heard the girls screaming. Gavil grabbed his cleaver Your starting hit points, hit die, and armor/weapon
tight and charged out into the street... proficiencies are determined by your background—check
the Rookie Details table below for full details.

Rookie Details
Background Hit Hit Proficiency Armor Weapon Variant:
Points Die Bonus Proficiencies Proficiencies Starting Cantrips
Acolyte 3 + CON 1d4 +2 — Simple 2 cleric or warlock
Charlatan 4 + CON 1d6 +2 Light Simple 1 bard or sorcerer
Criminal 4 + CON 1d6 +2 Light, Medium Simple —
Entertainer 4 + CON 1d6 +2 Light Simple 1 bard or wizard
Folk Hero 4 + CON 1d6 +2 Light Simple, Martial —
Guild Artisan 3 + CON 1d6 +2 Light Simple 1 cleric or wizard
Hermit 3 + CON 1d4 +2 — Simple 2 druid or wizard
Noble 4 + CON 1d6 +2 Light, Medium Simple, Martial —
Outlander 4 + CON 1d6 +2 Light Simple, Martial 1 cleric or druid
Sage 3 + CON 1d4 +2 — Simple 2 sorcerer or wizard
Sailor 5 + CON 1d8 +2 Light, Medium Simple —
Soldier 6 + CON 1d10 +2 All Armor, Shields Simple, Martial —
Urchin 3 + CON 1d4 +2 — Simple 2 sorcerer or warlock

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11
 Saving Throws Leveling Up
Rookies are proficient in one random saving throw—roll
on the Saving Throw table below to see which. You may When your rookie levels up and reaches 1st-level, replace
do this before you assign your ability scores. your core details (hit points, hit die, saving throws, and
proficiencies) with those of your class as per normal.
Rookie Saving Throw As a keepsake, you may keep one notable feature from
your time as a rookie. Choose one of the following:
d6 Ability d6 Ability d6 Ability
1 Strength 3 Constitution 5 Wisdom • Saving throw: Replace one class saving throw (of
your choosing) with your rookie saving throw.
2 Dexterity 4 Intelligence 6 Charisma • Armor/weapon proficiency: Keep one armor/weapon
proficiency, obeying any prerequisites—you can't take
heavy armor proficiency if your class doesn't already
At the start of a new rookie adventure, the player rolls grant medium armor proficiency, for example.
for their race and background—they are Ulryn, a drow • Cantrip: Keep one rookie cantrip (of your choosing) in
elf hermit with proficiency in Charisma saving throws. addition to any others your class may grant.
They then roll for their ability scores as normal. • Extra hit points: Add your rookie hit point maximum
Ulryn gains all the perks and equipment of her race
(excluding CON) to your 1st-level hit point maximum.
and background (excluding the background feature),
and starts with (3 + CON) hit points and one d4 hit Monsters & Traps
die. Being a hermit, she has only 5 gp to spend on
additional starting equipment. Life as a rookie is tough. Rookies are very fragile without class abilities and gear
to protect them. Monsters and traps will be a significant
challenge for rookies, so aim to use only CR 0 and—on
Variant: Starting Cantrips occasion—CR 1/8 challenges. Monsters and traps should
deal around 1 damage per hit, allowing even the weakest
If you want to introduce some limited, low level magic rookie to survive a couple of unfortunate attacks.
into your adventure, use this Starting Cantrips variant.
Some backgrounds, through their limited training and Giffyglyph's Monster Maker
experience, have access to one or two magical cantrips.
If your rookie has starting cantrips, pick these at random If you want to easily create level-appropriate monsters
—you may choose the class of magic before each for your rookies—or any other adventure—try Giffyglyph's
selection. If your rookie has multiple cantrips, these can Monster Maker, a supplement containing guides and
each be from a different class—an acolyte, for example, templates to help build monsters in seconds.
may have 1 cleric and 1 warlock cantrip.
Howling Skeleton Level -1 Striker

Destiny Points Medium humanoid, Undead Minion (3 XP)

Armor Class 7 Attack Bonus +1

Rookies are not completely helpless—they have a reserve Hit Points 3 (2) Damage 1
of grit and determination to dig into, unlocking a burst of Speed 30 ft Spell DCs 10, 7
power and ability—these are called destiny points.
You start with 3 destiny points, regaining spent points Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
after completing a long rest. You can spend a destiny +1 +1 +2 +0 +0 −1
point during your turn to do something improvised and
extraordinary—use these as an opportunity to discover Saving Throws Con −1, Dex/Str −3, Wis/Int/Cha −4
what class your rookie might grow into. Skills Initiative −1, Perception −1, Stealth −1

DM: You strike the mage fiercely, but he still stands. Necromage Level 0 Controller
Ulryn: Can I stun him as part of that attack? Medium humanoid Standard (25 XP)

DM: I don't know—is that your destiny? Armor Class 12 Attack Bonus +2
Ulryn: I think Ulryn's master taught her many ways to Hit Points 16 (8) Damage 1
incapacitate a man without killing him (offers a point). Speed 30 ft Spell DCs 10, 7
DM: The mage staggers back, momentarily stunned, Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
as your fist slams into his jaw (takes the destiny point). +1 −1 +2 +3 +0 +1

You can only use one destiny point per turn. You can't use Saving Throws Int +3, Con/Str +1, Cha/Wis/Dex −1
the same power more than once, so vary your heroics. Skills Initiative +2, Perception +1, Stealth +1

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12
 Adventure Seeds 5. Crimson Sacrifice
Atop the blackstone ziggurat of Sultiss, yuan-ti cultists
Rookie adventures traditionally focus on common, prepare a ritual sacrifice to their blood-thirsty gods. You
everyday people being suddenly thrown into a dangerous are one of these unwilling sacrifices, kidnapped from the
situation and—with any luck—overcoming it. wild, frontier town of Drembala.
If you're unsure what to run for your rookies, try using Only one hour remains until the midnight eclipse and
these adventure seeds to kickstart some ideas. the sacrifice begins. Can you find a way to break your
bonds and escape the ziggarat of death?
Adventure Seeds
d10 Adventure d10 Adventure
6. The Descent
1 A Village in Flames 6 The Descent You have uncovered a long-sealed tomb near your village
—a tomb of unknown origin. After a few-too-many drinks
2 Dragon Heist 7 Witch of the West in the local tavern, you and your friends decide to explore
3 Wings of Fury 8 Island of the Dead it in search of ancient riches.
4 The Mad Mage 9 Smile But as you all step foot inside, the stone doors of the
tomb seal shut behind you. Now, the only way ahead is
5 Crimson Sacrifice 10 The Pigmen of Palicor down. Can you survive the dangers ahead?

1. A Village in Flames 7. Witch of the West

You awaken in the night to the sound of screams—your The witch of the west has cursed your village with
small village is aflame and besieged by bloodthirsty hellish, maddening nightmares. Everyone is terrified to
bandits. Above the roar of the flames, you hear the bandit sleep at night, for the witch feeds on the souls of those
leader laugh as villagers are cut down in the street. who die in their sleep—and her appetite is endless.
These murderers won't let any villager escape with There are no convenient heroes around, so grab your
their lives. Grab whatever weapons you can find and weapons and brave the fetid swamps to the east. Can you
defend what's left of your home. find the witch before she kills you in your sleep?

2. Dragon Heist 8. Island of the Dead

It's been a bad harvest this year, and your poor village A prison ship, caught in a ferocious storm near the
can't afford food for the coming winter. Rumors say that dreaded Island of the Dead, capsizes with you on board.
the red dragon Kalaxigor has flown south from her lair in Beyond all hope, you are washed ashore with a handful
the nearby mountain, leaving a vast horde of gold of survivors. Far in the distance, you see a beached boat
temporarily undefended. that may be the only way off this island.
A small fortune awaits anyone brave enough—or But from all around, you hear the hungry moans of
foolish enough—to venture into the dragons lair. Can you the walking dead. Can you survive long enough to repair
find the horde of gold before the dragon returns? the boat and sail out to sea?

3. Wings of Fury 9. Smile

A frenzied griffin has been attacking farmers on the edge The town's children are going missing, lured into the
of the village—three have died in the last week alone, sewers by a strange man wearing a smiling clown's
gored open by the creature's razor-sharp talons. The mask. In your dreams, you see the smiling man standing
local lord has put out a sizable bounty for the beast's tall, long arms spread over a crowd of silent, faceless
head—a small fortune for an everyday civilian. children. They have no mouths and cannot scream.
The beast is rumored to nest in the southern forest. Yesterday, your sister went missing. Without any
Can you hunt down the griffin and bring back its head hesitation, you descend into the sewers to find her. Can
without losing your own? you rescue your sister from the smiling man?

4. The Mad Mage 10. The Pigmen of Palicor

Deep below the corrupt city of Vergheist, a mad mage You find yourself yourself strapped to an operating table
performs experiments on living captives. You are one of as the mad Butcher of Palicor prepares to turn you into
these tortured prisoners, until an earthquake rocks the one of his monstrous Pigmen. But a freak explosion sets
dungeon and tears the door of your cell free. you and the other prisoners free, tearing open a hole in
The mage's monstrous experiments, their prisons the tower to the black forest beyond.
broken, now wander the halls hungrily. Can you navigate You flee into the forest—but the Pigmen have your
the dungeon and evade the mad mage long enough to scent, and they are hungry. Can you find a way to escape
reclaim your freedom? the horrifying Butcher and his warped creations?
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13
 3

Feature Changes

S slightly in this supplement to better support a

darker, more dangerous tone—or to include some
minor rebalancing issues to a variety of powers,
backgrounds, skills, races, classes, and spells.
Darkvision
True darkvision is a rare ability, found only in those living
in the deepest, darkest places of the world. To make
darkness a more important and threatening part of your
This chapter introduces a variety of recommended game, apply these changes.
feature changes that can be introduced to your game If you have the Darkvision racial character trait,
regardless of the character creation method. replace it with the Low-light Vision trait:

Common Low-light Vision

Race, Trait

These common changes apply to all character types. For 30 ft around you, you can see in dim light as if it
Pick the modifiers that are suitable for your game and let
your players know which changes they should expect. were bright light. You cannot see in darkness.

Alignment If you have the Superior Darkvision racial trait instead,

replace it with:
When deciding on your character alignment, ignore any
racial alignment restrictions or suggestions—as a mortal Darkvision
creature, you get to choose your own particular morality. Race, Trait

Background Features For 30 ft around you, you can see in dim light as if it
You do not gain any feature automatically from your were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim
background—such as Discovery or Ship's Passage. light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades
You can try to emulate these effects in-game, however, of grey. Beyond 30 ft, you cannot see in darkness.
by making the appropriate checks during downtime and
your roleplaying scenes.
Sunlight Sensitivity
Outlander: Wanderer If your new character has the Sunlight Sensitivity racial
If you want to keep background features in your game, trait, you may choose to remove it by either:
apply this change to the Wanderer feature.
You have advantage on Survival checks to guide, a. Removing your native Darkvision racial trait entirely
navigate, or forage in a favoured terrain—choose one of so that you have only normal vision.
the following: arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, b. Replacing your native Superior Darkvision racial trait
mountain, swamp, or Underdark. with Low-light Vision (instead of Darkvision as above).
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14
 Darkvision Powers
Viridian spent much of his youth nose-deep in poetry.
If you gain Darkvision from sources other than your race— As a tiefling, his primary language is Infernal. With INT
magic spells, magic items, class features, etc—use the above
+2, he is able to speak, read, and write in three
definition of the trait but extend the range to whatever is
specified by the new source (60 ft, 120 ft, etc). languages: Infernal, Common, and Elven.
Chansi, meanwhile, never had much time for books.

Initiative As a halfling, her primary language is Halfing. With INT

-1, she can speak Halfling and Common, but cannot
Reaction speed is determined first-and-foremost by your read or write either language.
thoughts—the faster you think, the faster you react.
Your initiative is no longer affected by your Dexterity—
instead, use your Intelligence modifier. Skills
Tactical Wit These skills have been updated to provide a more even
If you are a War Wizard, your Tactical Wit class feature balance of utility and improve some lesser-picked skills.
now grants a Dexterity bonus—not Intelligence.
This may also apply to other unique class features or Animal Handling
item powers, so judge accordingly. Animal Handling now measures your ability to recall lore
about animals (or creatures with the Beast keyword) and
Inspiration interact with them.
Roll Intelligence (Animal Handling) to recall some
You can hold up to 3 inspiration points at once. You can information about animals, or Wisdom (Animal
spend inspiration to make an attack roll, saving throw, or Handling) to interact with animals.
ability check with advantage—though you must declare
this before you make the roll. Nature
Nature no longer measures your knowledge of animals
Gaining Inspiration and beasts—that domain is now a part of the Animal
You gain inspiration by acting in accordance with one of Handling skill.
your characteristics in an interesting way for the game.
You cannot be "inspired" by the same characteristic
multiple times in one game session, so keep it varied. Spells
Languages These changes update spells that may trivialise certain
aspects of low-level adventuring and dungeon delving.
You can comprehend a maximum number of languages
equal to 1 plus your Intelligence modifier (to a minimum Light
of 1 language). If you have more languages than this—
through class or racial features—choose which ones you Light is now a concentration cantrip with the same level
wish to speak/read/write and discard the rest. of brightness as a torch. The spell ends automatically if
the light is moved too far away from the caster.
Character Languages
Light
INT Known Languages
Evocation, Cantrip
-1 or You have only a basic grasp of vocabulary in your
lower primary language, and you are illiterate. Casting Time: 1 action
0 You can speak, read, and write your primary Range: Touch
language with a decent range of vocabulary. Components: V, M
+1 You can speak, read, and write two languages. Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
+2 You can speak, read, and write three languages.
You touch one object that is no larger than 10 ft in
+3 You can speak, read, and write four languages.
any dimension. Until the spell ends, or your
concentration breaks, or you move more than 120 ft
All characters know how to speak Common, but they
can't read or write Common without mastering it. away from the object, the object sheds bright light in
a 20 ft radius and dim light for an additional 20 ft. The
Codes and Communication light can be colored as you like.
Some features allow your character to communicate If you target an object held or worn by a hostile
with others using secret codes and cyphers—such as creature, that creature may make a Dexterity saving
Thieves' Cant. These are not classed as languages and so
don't count towards your language limit. throw to avoid the spell.

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15
 4

Racial Changes

R
' .
These racial features have been amended for
balance and to better support survival mechanics.
Halfling
Lucky: After you use Lucky, you can't use it again until
you complete a short or long rest or you roll a natural 20
Dragonborn on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw.
Breath Weapon: You may use your breath weapon as a
bonus action instead of a full action. Alternatively, if you
can attack multiple times during the Attack action, you
Lizardfolk
may use your breath weapon as one of these attacks. Hungry Jaws: Replace your existing Hungry Jaws ability
After you use your Breath Weapon, you can't use it with the following trait.
again until you complete a short or long rest.
Hungry Jaws
Race (Lizardfolk), Trait
Kiris, a 5th-level dragonborn fighter, can attack twice
with her Attack action thanks to Extra Attack. In one As a bonus action, or as one attack during an Attack
action, she makes one attack with her sword and then action, you can make a bite attack against a living,
—as a second attack—unleashes her breath weapon. blooded creature. If the attack hits, it deals normal
damage and you gain temporary hit points equal to the
damage dealt. The damage increases to 2d6 + STR at
Human 6th level, 3d6 + STR at 11th level, and 4d6 + STR at
16th level.
Human Determination: If you are a non-variant human,
you gain the Human Determination racial trait. After you use Hungry Jaws, you can't use it again
until you complete a short or long rest.
Human Determination
Race (Human), Trait
Yuan-ti Pureblood
You are filled with determination. If you fail an attack
Magic Resistance: You have advantage on all
roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll one Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws
d20. You must keep the new result. against magic.
After you use Human Determination, you can't use Poison Resistance: (Replaces Poison Immunity) You
it again until you complete a short or long rest. have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you
have resistance against poison damage.
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16
 5

Class Changes

Y from your class, some more potent than others.

The following class features have been amended
for minor rebalancing purposes.
Ranger
Ranger's Companion: Your Ranger's Companion
feature is subject to the following changes:
Druid • Command: You can use your bonus action to verbally
command your companion to act. If you fall unconscious,
Wild Shape: Your Wild Shape feature is subject to the command the companion as if you were conscious.
following changes: • 0 Hit Points: When your beast companion falls to 0
hit points, it gains the Dying condition (p60) as if it
• Natural Form: To transform into a new wild shape (or were a player character. Roll death saving throws for
assume a new, fresh instance of a current wild shape), the companion when appropriate.
you must first be in your natural form. • Hit Points: Your companion's hit point maximum
• 0 Hit Points: If you are reduced to 0 hit points whilst equals the hit point number in its stat block or six
in a wild shape, you gain one level of exhaustion. times your ranger level, whichever is higher.
• Prepared Forms: After you complete a long rest,
choose a number of different forms equal to your 1 + Exceptional Training: You can use a free action to verbally
half your druid level (round down). When you command your companion to Dash, Disengage, or Help.
transform, pick from one of these prepared forms.
• Multiattack: You cannot use multiattack in your new
form unless you are a 5th-level druid (or higher).
• Attack Bonus: When in beast form, use your own
Warlock
proficiency bonus to determine your attack bonus— INT Warlocks: You may choose INT as your spellcasting
assume that you are proficient in however the wild ability instead of CHA. If you do, you gain proficiency in
shape normally attacks. Intelligence saving throws instead of Charisma.
• Hit Points: When in a wild shape, your hit point Eldritch Blast: You may apply only one Eldritch Invocation
maximum equals the hit point number in its stat block to your eldritch blast per attack roll. You may choose the
or six times your druid level, whichever is higher. invocation after you know the result of the roll.
Repelling Blast: You can trigger Repelling Blast only
once during your turn.
Paladin Repelling Blast & Grasp of Hadar: For every size
category larger than you, the target moves 5 ft less. You
Divine Smite: You must spend a bonus action to activate cannot move a swarm with these invocations.
your Divine Smite ability. Alternatively, if you can attack If the target is grabbing anything, it may roll a
multiple times during the Attack action, you may activate Strength saving throw against your spell DC to avoid
your Divine Smite as one of these attacks. being moved or—if it chooses—pull the creature with it.
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17
 PART 2
Equipment

6 Inventory Space p19

p19
Manage your inventory with item slots.

7 Wear & Tear p25

p25
Track item damage and decay with notches.

8 Ammunition p28
p28
Track your arrows and bolts with ammunition die.

9 Potions p29
p29
Drink magic consumables for magical effects.

10 Flasks p31
p31
Store multiple potions in small, handy flasks.

11 Oils p33
p33
Enhance your gear with magical oils.
 6

Inventory Space

I
, Character Armor
right gear at the right time can make all the
difference between life and death. Great emphasis is Armor Slots Armor Slots
placed on your inventory—what you carry and where None — Medium -6
you carry it are important things to keep track of.
This chapter introduces new systems to help track Light -3 Heavy -9
and manage your inventory easily.
Valiant, a human cleric, is a medium-sized creature (18
Slot-based Inventory slots) with +2 STR (+2 slots) wearing heavy armor (-9
slots). He can carry 11 slots of additional gear.
Inventory is managed using item slots, not item weight. Crackle, a kobold wizard, is a small creature (15
These abstract slots represent the combined storage slots) with -1 STR (-1 slot) and no armor. She can carry
capacity of your bags/belts/weapon sheaths/etc—the
more item slots you have, the more items you can carry. up to 14 slots worth of equipment.

Your Inventory Capacity Food, Water, & Gold

To calculate your character's inventory capacity, first In addition to item slots, your character can freely carry
check your character size—the bigger you are, the more one ration box, one waterskin, and one purse. These
space you have about your person to carry items. don't occupy any slots and can store a small amount of
basic supplies—food, water, and money.
Character Size
• Ration box: Stores up to five basic food rations.
Size Slots Size Slots • Waterskin: Holds enough liquid for five drink rations.
Tiny 9 Large 21
• Purse: Holds up to 100 assorted coins.
Small 15 Huge 27 While these extra containers don't occupy any item slots,
they can still be affected by NPCs and monsters—stolen,
Medium 18 Gargantuan 39
damaged, destroyed, etc—so beware.
Next, check your character's strength—the stronger you Worn Items
are, the more items you can carry. You gain (or lose) a
number of item slots equal to your STR modifier.
Finally, check the type of armor you are wearing. Worn items, such as gloves, boots, hats, bracers, etc—with
the exception of armor—don't occupy any inventory space
Armor is big and bulky—the bigger the armor, the less until you unequip them and put them back into storage.
inventory space you have for other gear.
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19
 Encumbrance Armor Expertise
If you find yourself carrying more than your inventory Wearing armor means that you can't carry as much, but
capacity allows, you are encumbered. While you are there is a trade-off—you become more resistant to harm.
encumbered: If you are wearing medium or heavy armor—and you are
appropriately proficient—you gain the following perk:
• You have disadvantage on all rolls.
• Your speed is halved • Medium Armor: Reduce any bludgeoning, piercing,
• You gain hunger, thirst, and fatigue at twice the rate. and slashing damage that you take from non-magical
weapons by half your proficiency bonus (rounded
Inventory Interactions down), to a minimum of 1.
• Heavy Armor: Reduce any bludgeoning, piercing, and
You must draw an item from your inventory before you slashing damage that you take from non-magical
can use it. During your turn, you may use your one free weapons by your proficiency bonus, to a minimum of 1.
object interaction (PHB p190) with your inventory to:
This perk doesn't stack with any additional armor feats
• Add/sheathe one item (or collection of tiny items). or bonuses you might gain—use the highest value.
• Remove/draw one item (or collection of tiny items).
To make a second change to your inventory during the Item Sizes
same turn, or to interact with another character's Item size is measured in slots, telling you just how much
inventory, you must take the Use an Object action. space an item requires in your inventory. Items generally
fall into one of four sizes: tiny, small, medium, and large.
Krazak wants to draw out his axe and charge forward,
Item Sizes
bashing open a door in his way. To do this, he must
use his free object interaction to grab the axe from his Size Description Slots
inventory, his movement to rush forward, and the Use Tiny Very small (smaller than a hand); Can hold 0.2
many in one hand.
an Object action to bash open the door.
Viridian, meanwhile, wants to draw both a sword Small Short length (up to a handspan / 9 1
inches); Held comfortably with one hand.
and a healing potion from his bag on his turn. He
Medium Medium length (up to an arms-length / 2
draws the sword as his free object interaction, and 2ft); Held with one hand.
uses his full action to take out the potion. Large Long length (longer than an arm); 3
Requires one or two hands to hold.

Magical Containers When categorising an item, consider the overall size of it

Some containers have magical—or otherwise enhanced against the average person—don't worry too much about
—properties that change their capacity or durability: weight unless there's good reason to.
• Bag of Holding: This magical creation works much Stacking Items
like a normal bag, but can hold many more items. You can store up to 5 tiny items, 5 gemstones, or 100
Equipping a Bag of Holding gains you +6 item slots. assorted coins in a single item slot.
• Handy Haversack: This magical bag acts like an
improved Bag of Holding. Equipping a Handy Extra-Large Items
Haversack gains you +12 item slots. Some items may be extra-large—a big water barrel, a
• Portable Hole: This magical object can be carried as giant's sword, a stone boulder. When deciding the size of
a small item, occupying 1 item slot. When folded out, these items, use multiples of 3 slots—6, 9, 12, etc.
a Portable Hole acts as a separate bag with 18 slots.
A character can only equip one Bag of Holding or Handy DM: Clanda, inside the chest you find 300 silver
Haversack at a time, and—while equipped with one— coins and a small marble carving of a horse.
cannot store a Portable Hole in their expanded inventory Clanda: Brilliant. I'll pour it all into my bag.
without destroying both items (DMG p185). DM: 300 coins will take up 3 slots, and the statue
another 1 slot. What's your load?
In the ruins of the Arcane Sanctum, Valiant is fortunate Clanda: Damn it, 4 slots puts me way over my limit.
enough to find a Bag of Holding—still intact after all Hey, dwarf—you have room, carry this for me.
these years. He replaces his ordinary leather bag with Krazak: Sure thing, witch. For a price.
it, increasing his total inventory space by +6 slots. Clanda: Son of a...

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 Armor
Name Armor Class (AC) Cost Size Name Armor Class (AC) Cost Size
Light, Padded 11 + DEX 5 gp L, 3 Medium, Half Plate 15 + DEX (Max 2) 750 gp XL, 6
Light, Leather 11 + DEX 10 gp L, 3 Heavy, Ring Mail 14 30 gp XXL, 9
Light, Studded Leather 12 + DEX 45 gp L, 3 Heavy, Chain Mail 16 75 gp XXL, 9
Medium, Hide 12 + DEX (Max 2) 10 gp XL, 6 Heavy, Splint Mail 17 200 gp XXL, 9
Medium, Chain Shirt 13 + DEX (Max 2) 50 gp XL, 6 Heavy, Plate Mail 18 1,500 gp XXL, 9
Medium, Scale Mail 14 + DEX (Max 2) 50 gp XL, 6 Shield +2 10 gp M, 2
Medium, Breastplate 14 + DEX (Max 2) 400 gp XL, 6 — — — —

Weapons
Name Damage Cost Size Name Damage Cost Size
Battleaxe 1d8 slashing 10 gp L, 3 Longsword 1d8 slashing 15 gp L, 3
Blowgun 1 piercing 10 gp S, 1 Mace 1d6 bludgeoning 5 gp M, 2
Club 1d4 bludgeoning 1 sp M, 2 Maul 2d6 bludgeoning 10 gp L, 3
Crossbow, Hand 1d6 piercing 75 gp S, 1 Morningstar 1d8 piercing 15 gp M, 2
Crossbow, Light 1d8 piercing 25 gp M, 2 Net — 1 gp S, 1
Crossbow, Heavy 1d10 piercing 50 gp L, 3 Pike 1d10 piercing 5 gp L, 3
Dagger 1d4 piercing 2 gp S, 1 Quarterstaff 1d6 bludgeoning 2 sp L, 3
Dart 1d4 piercing 5 cp T, 0.2 Rapier 1d8 piercing 25 gp M, 2
Flail 1d8 bludgeoning 10 gp M, 2 Scimitar 1d6 slashing 25 gp M, 2
Glaive 1d10 slashing 20 gp L, 3 Shortbow 1d6 piercing 25 gp M, 2
Greataxe 1d12 slashing 30 gp L, 3 Shortsword 1d6 piercing 10 gp M, 2
Greatclub 1d8 bludgeoning 2 sp L, 3 Sickle 1d4 slashing 1 gp S, 1
Greatsword 2d6 slashing 50 gp L, 3 Sling 1d4 bludgeoning 1 sp S, 1
Halberd 1d10 slashing 20 gp L, 3 Spear 1d6 piercing 1 gp L, 3
Handaxe 1d6 slashing 5 gp M, 2 Trident 1d6 piercing 5 gp L, 3
Javelin (5) 1d6 piercing 5 sp L, 3 War Pick 1d8 piercing 5 gp M, 2
Lance 1d12 piercing 10 gp L, 3 Warhammer 1d8 bludgeoning 15 gp L, 3
Light Hammer 1d4 bludgeoning 2 gp S, 1 Whip 1d4 slashing 2 gp S, 1
Longbow 1d8 piercing 50 gp L, 3 — — — —

Animals Equipment Packs

Animal Size Speed Cost Capacity Pack Cost Total Size
Camel Large 50ft 50 gp 21 slots Burglar's Pack 16 gp 15 slots
Donkey or Mule Medium 40ft 8 gp 18 slots Diplomat's Pack 39 gp 9 slots
Elephant Huge 40ft 200 gp 27 slots Dungeoneer's Pack 12 gp 11 slots
Horse, Draft Large 50ft 50 gp 21 slots Entertainer's Pack 40 gp 10 slots
Horse, Riding Large 60ft 75 gp 21 slots Explorer's Pack 10 gp 10 slots
Mastiff Medium 40ft 25 gp 18 slots Priest's Pack 19 gp 7 slots
Pony Medium 40ft 30 gp 18 slots Scholar's Pack 40 gp 5 slots
Warhorse Large 60ft 400 gp 21 slots — — —

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 Adventuring Gear
Name Cost Size Name Cost Size Name Cost Size
Abacus 2 gp S, 1 Game, 3 Dragon Ante 1 gp S, 1 Poison, Basic (vial) 100 gp T, 0.2
Acid (vial) 25 gp T, 0.2 Grappling Hook 2 gp S, 1 Pole (10 ft) 5 cp L, 3
Alchemist’s Fire (flask) 50 gp S, 1 Hammer 1 gp S, 1 Pot, Iron 2 gp S, 1
Ammo, Arrows (20) 1 gp S, 1 Hammer, Sledge 2 gp L, 3 Potion of Healing 50 gp S, 1
Ammo, Bolts (20) 1 gp S, 1 Holy Symbol, Amulet 5 gp S, 1 Ram, Portable 4 gp XL, 6
Ammo, Bullets (20) 4 cp S, 1 Holy Symbol, Emblem 5 gp S, 1 Ration (1) 1 sp T, 0.2
Ammo, Needles (50) 1 gp S, 1 Holy Symbol, Reliquary 5 gp S, 1 Rope, Hempen (50 ft) 1 gp S, 1
Antitoxin (vial) 50 gp T, 0.2 Holy Water (flask) 25 gp S, 1 Rope, Silk (50 ft) 10 gp S, 1
Arcane Focus, Crystal 10 gp S, 1 Hourglass 25 gp S, 1 Scale, Merchant’s 5 gp S, 1
Arcane Focus, Orb 20 gp S, 1 Hunting Trap 5 gp S, 1 Sealing Wax 5 sp T, 0.2
Arcane Focus, Rod 10 gp S, 1 Ink 10 gp T, 0.2 Shovel 2 gp L, 3
Arcane Focus, Staff 5 gp L, 3 Ink Pen 2 cp T, 0.2 Signal Whistle 5 cp T, 0.2
Arcane Focus, Wand 10 gp S, 1 Instrument, Bagpipes 30 gp L, 3 Signet Ring 5 gp T, 0.2
Ball Bearings (1,000) 1 gp S, 1 Instrument, Drum 6 gp M, 2 Soap 2 cp T, 0.2
Barrel 2 gp XXL, 9 Instrument, Dulcimer 25 gp L, 3 Spellbook 50 gp S, 1
Bedroll 1 gp M, 2 Instrument, Flute 2 gp S, 1 Spikes, Iron (10) 1 gp S, 1
Bell 1 gp S, 1 Instrument, Horn 3 gp M, 2 Spyglass 1,000 gp S, 1
Blanket 5 sp S, 1 Instrument, Lute 35 gp M, 2 Tent, Two-person 2 gp L, 3
Block & Tackle 1 gp S, 1 Instrument, Lyre 30 gp M, 2 Tinderbox 5 sp S, 1
Book 25 gp S, 1 Instrument, Pan Flute 12 gp S, 1 Tools, Alchemist 50 gp M, 2
Bottle, Glass 2 gp S, 1 Instrument, Shawm 2 gp M, 2 Tools, Brewer 20 gp M, 2
Bucket 5 cp M, 2 Instrument, Viol 30 gp M, 2 Tools, Calligrapher 10 gp S, 1
Caltrops (20) 1 gp S, 1 Jug or Pitcher 2 cp S, 1 Tools, Carpenter 8 gp S, 1
Candle 1 cp T, 0.2 Kit, Climbers 25 gp S, 1 Tools, Cartographer 15 gp S, 1
Case 1 gp S, 1 Kit, Disguise 25 gp S, 1 Tools, Cobbler 5 gp S, 1
Chain (10 ft) 5 gp S, 1 Kit, Forgery 15 gp S, 1 Tools, Cook 1 gp M, 2
Chalk (1 piece) 1 cp T, 0.2 Kit, Healer’s 5 gp S, 1 Tools, Glassblower 30 gp M, 2
Chest 5 gp XL, 6 Kit, Mess 2 sp S, 1 Tools, Jeweler 25 gp S, 1
Clothes, Common 5 sp S, 1 Kit, Poisoner’s 50 gp S, 1 Tools, Leatherworker 5 gp M, 2
Clothes, Costume 5 gp M, 2 Ladder (10 ft) 1 sp L, 3 Tools, Mason 10 gp M, 2
Clothes, Fine 15 gp M, 2 Lamp 5 sp S, 1 Tools, Navigator 25 gp S, 1
Clothes, Traveler’s 2 gp S, 1 Lantern, Bullseye 10 gp S, 1 Tools, Painter 10 gp M, 2
Component Pouch 25 gp S, 1 Lantern, Hooded 5 gp S, 1 Tools, Potter 10 gp M, 2
Crowbar 2 gp M, 2 Lock 10 gp S, 1 Tools, Smith 20 gp M, 2
Druid Focus, Mistletoe 1 gp S, 1 Magnifying Glass 100 gp S, 1 Tools, Thieves 25 gp S, 1
Druid Focus, Staff 5 gp L, 3 Manacles 2 gp S, 1 Tools, Tinker 50 gp S, 1
Druid Focus, Totem 1 gp S, 1 Mirror, Steel 5 gp S, 1 Tools, Weaver 1 gp M, 2
Druid Focus, Wand 10 gp S, 1 Oil (flask) 1 sp S, 1 Tools, Woodcarver 1 gp S, 1
Fishing Tackle 1 gp S, 1 Paper (1 sheet) 2 sp T, 0.2 Torch 1 cp S, 1
Flask or Tankard 2 cp S, 1 Parchment (1 sheet) 1 sp T, 0.2 Vial 1 gp T, 0.2
Game, Cards 5 sp S, 1 Perfume (vial) 5 gp T, 0.2 Waterskin 2 sp S, 1
Game, Dice 1 sp S, 1 Pick, Miner’s 2 gp L, 3 Whetstone 1 cp S, 1
Game, Dragonchess 1 gp S, 1 Piton 5 cp S, 1 — — —

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Transportation Krazak, Dwarf Barbarian
Vehicles—mules, carts, ships, trains—store items in the Krazak, a dwarf barbarian with +3 STR, has 21 item
same way as characters: using item slots. Vehicles slots to fill with 60 gp. With Unarmored Defence, he
generally come in four sizes—anything larger is assumed doesn't need nor want any additional armor—except
to have as many slots as it needs. perhaps a shield for those cowardly archers. But he does
have a weakness for weapons—the bigger, the better.
Transport Capacity
Krazak's Inventory
Size Examples Slots
Small Mule, Horse, Donkey, Wheelbarrow 18 Type Contents
Items (21) Handaxe (5 gp, 2 slots)
Medium Cart (2 wheels), Chariot 32
Shield (10 gp, 2 slots)
Large Wagon (4 wheels), Carriage, Boat 64 Greataxe (30 gp, 3 slots)
Gaming Set, Dice (1 sp, 1 slot)
Huge Ship 128 Whetstone (1 cp, 1 slot)
Chain (5 gp, 1 slot)
A vehicle's storage capacity may be divided into separate Torch (1 cp, 1 slot)
Cook's Utensils (1 gp, 2 slots)
compartments. A mule, for example, may carry two 9-slot
bags, while a cart has a single 32-slot space. Ration Box Basic Ration (5)
Waterskin Dwarven Ale (5)
Chests, Crates, & Barrels
Some items can only safely be transported in bulk within Purse 9 gp, 9 sp, 8 cp (26 coins)
storage containers—chests, crates, and barrels. These
containers hold a number of slots equal to their size: Of his 21 item slots, Krazak fills 13—plenty of room left
over to store loot aplenty from the next wild adventure.
• A small chest fills 1 slot and holds 1 item slot. Spending half his gold on a beloved greataxe was a
• A large crate fills 3 slots and holds 3 item slots. costly investment, but a barbarian is nothing without his
• An xx-large barrel fills 9 slots and holds 9 item slots. weapons. Krazak is keen to put them to good use.

Equipping Characters Variant: Quickdraw

Here are two examples of new characters buying some
starting equipment and stashing it in their inventory. If you want to make inventory access a little more
restricting for your players, try using the Quickdraw
Valiant, Human Cleric variant rule.
Valiant, a human cleric with +2 STR, can hold 20 item Characters nominate any 3 items in their inventory as
slots of inventory. Rolling 15 on the Starting Wealth quickdraw items. Quickdraw items can be draw/removed
table, he starts with 150 gp to his name. from the inventory using a free object interaction as
Expecting to be in the thick of battle, Valiant wants normal. However, any non-quickdraw item can only be
thick armor and a sturdy shield to keep danger at bay. accessed using a full action.
Valiant's Inventory Krazak nominates his greataxe, handaxe, and shield as
Type Contents his 3 quickdraw items—he can take out these 3 items
Items (11) War Pick (5 gp, 2 slots) using a free object interaction as normal.
Shield (10 gp, 2 slots) During a descent into the Shadowed Maw, the
Healer's Kit (5 gp, 1 slot) dwarf tries to take out a torch to light the way. As this
Prayer Book (25 gp, 1 slot)
Torch (1 cp, 1 slot) isn't a quickdraw item, it takes Krazak a full action to
Bedroll (1 gp, 2 slots) dig out the torch from his bag.
Worn (9) Chain Mail (75 gp, 9 slots)
Ration Box Basic Ration (5) A character may rearrange their inventory and change
Waterskin Clean Water (5)
their quickdraw item selection during a short rest.
Purse 28 gp, 9 sp, 9 cp (46 coins)
Viridian has a shortsword, dagger, and rope as his 3
Wearing heavy armor cuts Valiant's inventory space quickdraw items. However, as hit points are running
down to 11 slots. He fills 9 slots with adventuring gear, low across the party, Viridian swaps his quickdraw
leaving 2 slots for trinkets and treasures. rope for a healing potion in the next short rest—just in
This leaves Valiant with 2 item slots and just under 29
gp to live on—enough for two weeks of a modest lifestyle. case someone should need a quick restorative to hand.

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 Variant: Containers Chansi, Halfling Ranger
Chansi, a halfing ranger with -1 STR, can only carry 14
If you want a more granular system of inventory item slots due to her small size and strength—humans
management that puts more focus on item placement, have it so easy. Rolling 12, she starts with 120 gp.
then try using these variant rules for Containers. Some decent leather armor is a must when ranging
Characters divide their total number of item slots into through the wild forests—animals have sharp claws.
distinct containers—bags, belts, sheathes, etc—that they Chansi favours the trap and shortbow, but carries a
name, categorise, and place about their person. These sword and dagger for times when her prey gets too close.
containers describe where an item is on your character.
Chansi's Inventory
Viridian has 11 item slots in his inventory. He divides Cont. Type Contents
this into a 4-slot weapon sheath (for his war pick and 1 Quiver (3) Shortbow (25 gp, 2 slot)
shield), a 3-slot belt (for his healer's kit and torch), and Arrows (1 gp, 1 slot)
a 4-slot bag (for his prayer book and bedroll). 2 Sheath (3) Shortsword (10 gp, 2 slots)
Dagger (2 gp, 1 slots)
3 Bag (5) Hunting Trap (5 gp, 2 slot)
Container Categories Rope (1 gp, 1 slot)

Containers can be broadly separated into 4 categories. — Worn (3) Studded Leather (45 gp, 3 slots)
When creating your inventory containers, assign a — Ration Box Basic Ration (5)
category to each—you can mix and match categories — Waterskin Clean Water (5)
however you like, or rename them to something more
fitting to your character (purse, bandolier, backpack, etc). — Purse 31 gp (31 coins)
Some containers can only hold items of a particular
size, or require more time to retrieve an item—so pick The armor was costly, but it's saved Chansi's life on more
the right containers to suit your needs. than one occasion—well worth the price, and there's
always work for a talented ranger nowadays.
• Bag: A bag holds items of any size. You can draw an
item from a bag with a full action. Vikan, Goliath Sorcerer
• Belt: A belt can hold only small and tiny items. You Vikan, a goliath sorcerer with -1 STR, can carry up to 20
can draw an item from a belt with a free action. item slots thanks to his Powerful Build—he might smash
• Sheath: A sheath holds weapons and shields. You can his head on a few ceilings, but being big does have its
draw an item from a sheath with a free action. advantages. Rolling 6, he starts with 60 gp.
• Quiver: A quiver stores bows, crossbows, arrows, As a sorcerer, Vikan eshews armor—it gets in the way
quarrels, and javelins. You can draw an item from a of his raw arcane energies. He carries a quarterstaff for
quiver with a free action. some basic defence and a crossbow for hunting.

Krazak wants rapid access to his weapons—he puts Vikan's Inventory

them in a sheath so he can draw them as a free action. Cont. Type Contents
His downtime equipment—cooking tools, gaming 1 Sheath (3) Quarterstaff (2 sp, 3 slots)
sets, whetstones, etc—is unlikely to be needed at 2 Quiver (3) Light Crossbow (25 gp, 2 slots)
sudden notice, and can be stashed safely away in a bag. Bolts (1 gp, 1 slot)
3 Belt (6) Focus, Orb (20 gp, 1 slot)
Gaming Set, Cards (5 sp, 1 slot)
Changing Containers Lamp (5 sp, 1 slot)
Characters can change their containers for free during a Oil (1 sp, 1 slot)

long rest, providing they have access to basic supplies 4 Bag (8) Painter's Supplies (10 gp, 2 slots)
and commodities via a village, town, or city. Blanket (5 sp, 1 slot)
Bedroll (1 gp, 2 slots)
— Ration Box Basic Ration (5)
While in town, Viridian swaps out a 6-slot bag for a 4-
— Waterskin Clean Water (5)
slot bag and 2-slot belt to hold his healing potions.
— Purse 1 gp, 8 sp (9 coins)

Equipping Characters A keen painter, Vikan carries painting supplies with him
To demonstrate how containers work, here are two new to capture inspirational scenes out in the wild. His art
characters who—after buying equipment—divide up their isn't going to win any awards just yet, but Vikan paints
item slots into appropriate containers. for the love of the craft and not the reward.
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 7

Wear & Tear

E
, .I '
hard to keep your gear in good shape out in the Weapons
wilds—swords chip, staves break, and armor Weapons—both melee and ranged—gain a notch when
dents. Nothing stays in perfect condition forever— you critically fail an attack with them.
especially given the rigors of day-to-day adventuring. Each weapon notch reduces by one step the damage
Keep a good whetstone in your pack and a sharp sword die you roll with that weapon (to a minimum of 1):
in your hand to survive the dangers ahead.
This chapter introduces rules to help track wear and
tear on your items, how damage affects your gear, and 1d12 → 1d10 → 1d8 → 1d6 → 1d4 → 1
how to repair and temper your equipment to prevent
future damage. Some weapons roll multiple die for their damage—for
example, greatswords rolling 2d6. In these cases, each
notch reduces just one die at at time:
Item Degradation
Items degrade with use, losing condition until they 2d6 → 1d6 + 1d4 → 2d4 → 1d4 + 1 → 2 → 1
become useless. This is measured with notches—the
more notches an item has, the more it has degraded. A weapon's damage cannot go below 1, but it can still
Items gain notches through damage and critical gain additional notches. These must be repaired as
failures, and must be repaired or otherwise restored normal to restore the weapon's damage dice.
using the correct skills, tools, and expertise to function
properly again. Spellcasting Focus
A spellcasting focus—such as a bard's instrument or a
Damaging Items cleric's symbol—gains a notch when you critically fail a
spellcasting action whilst wielding it.
Any object that can suffer damage can become notched, Each notch reduces your total spellcasting ability by 1
reducing its functionality and quality—through scratches, in any spellcasting action involving that focus—keep it in
chips, dents, and cracks. good condition to keep from future failures.
Objects generally fall into one of four categories:
weapons, armor, magic foci, and miscellaneous items. Magic Failures
Armor Magic is wild and dangerous if not handled carefully. If you
Armor gains a notch when you are critically hit by an roll a critical fail while spellcasting and are not holding a
attack. Each armor notch reduces your total AC by 1. spellcasting focus at the time, the power strikes out—a
If you are not wearing any armor and are critically hit random item in your inventory gains a new notch.
by an attack, select a random item in your inventory— If you hold a focus—whether it was used during the spell
that item gains a new notch instead. or not—it attracts the power and gains the notch instead.

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 Miscellaneous Items Repairing Items
All other items gain a notch whenever appropriate, often Items can be repaired by an appropriate craftsman,
when they take direct damage or are used in a failed skill costing 10% of the item price per notch. Depending on
check—such as rolling a natural 1 to disarm a trap with a the item, this may require rare or expensive components.
set of thieves tools. Characters may, if they're proficient, also use relevant
tools to perform basic repairs on their gear while out
traveling—a whetstone to smooth out a notch, a sewing
DM: The door to the basement is locked, Viridian. A kit to patch up a robe, a hammer to tap out a dent.
heart is etched under the key hole. Repairs of this kind generally require an hour, tools,
Viridian: Locked? Against a bard and his lock picks? I and a successful Intelligence check. Failure, however,
don't think so... (rolls 1) oh come on! could result in creating a new notch if not careful.
DM: You feel one of the tools bend awkwardly in Mending
your hand. Your lockpicks take a notch of damage. The Mending cantrip repairs broken items—a torn
waterskin, a split bow, a torn page. Notches, however,
Each notch reduces the item's effectiveness by 1, adding represent only minor damage to an item—not a complete
a cumulative -1 penalty to any roll made using that item. break—and cannot be removed with Mending.
Using a lockpick with one notch, for example, will You can, however, use Mending to restore an item that
apply a -1 penalty to your lockpicking attempts. has shattered from too many notches. A restored item is
usable again, but has the maximum number of notches—
Shattered Gear without repairs, it will break again with one more notch.
Everything falls apart eventually, given enough damage
and time. Your items can break irreparably if they suffer Clanda: After—finally—drying out my bag, I'll scoop
too many notches, becoming useless scrap. together the remains of the bottle and cast Mending.
Most objects are sturdy enough to withstand a fair DM: Your magic fuses the glass fragments back
amount of punishment, but be careful with delicate items together into a useable, delicate bottle—it's cracked
—any more than one single notch and they shatter. with 1 notch, but it'll hold liquid again.

Item Fragility
You can't use Mending to restore a weapon or armor you
Fragility Description Maximum have sacrificed—that gear is far too ruined for your
Notches simple cantrip to have any effect on.
Delicate Thin glass, ceramics, 1
complicated or tiny machinery
Sturdy Wood, metal, well-made goods 10 Tempering Gear
Indestructible Thick stone, strong metals 100+ With the right skills and the right materials, you can
make your gear more resistant to wear and tear. This is
DM: That's a critical failure on your spell attack,
called tempering and it reduces the number of notches
your equipment takes from critical failures.
Clanda. Take a notch of damage.
Clanda: Damn, not holding my focus. That means
my... (rolls for a random item) delicate potion of
Temper Qualities
healing takes a second notch. Oh dear. When you temper an item, you strengthen the material
DM: Oh dear indeed. Your arcane power hits the
so that it can withstand more punishment and remain
effective for longer—a tempered sword becomes harder
already-chipped glass potion bottle—it shatters inside to chip, and tempered armor harder to crack. The better
your bag, spilling the liquid everywhere. the temper, the stronger your equipment.
Clanda: ... There are three grades of temper, each more exclusive
and expensive than the last: pure, royal, and astral.
Sacrificing Weapons and Armor
Tempering Gear
When you hit with an attack, you can shatter your
weapon to roll its original un-notched damage die. Quality Rarity Critical Failure
Decide this before you roll your damage. — Common Gains 1 notch
Likewise, you can sacrifice your armor when hit by an
attack to reduce the damage taken by 3d4 for light Pure Temper Uncommon Gains ½ (0.5) notch
armor, 3d8 for medium armor, and 3d12 for heavy armor Royal Temper Rare Gains ¼ (0.25) notch
—it falls apart irreparably in the process. You can decide
this after damage is dealt. Astral Temper Mythic Gains ⅛ (0.125) notch

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 Why Temper Gear? In the mines of Kazadorn, Krazak has his greataxe
At higher levels, martial classes can make multiple attacks Vengeance tempered. Applying a pure temper costs
per round—this means an increased likelihood of rolling a 1 60 gp (30 x 2) and takes 3 days. After the temper is
and gaining a notch on their weapons.
applied, the weapon is worth 90 gp (30 x 3) and any
Tempering allows characters to improve their equipment
so that—even though they may roll more 1s on average— notches will cost 9 gp (10% of 90) to repair.
notches are less damaging to their equipment.

A tempered piece of equipment is less vulnerable to the

effects of wear and tear. When you would gain 1 notch
Item Quality
from a critical failure (such as when attacking or The quality of an item affects how people treat it. Lower
defending), you instead gain only a fraction of a notch—a quality items are more likely to have visual defects, such
half, a quarter, or an eighth, depending on the quality. as dents and scratches, that mark how it's been used.
This doesn't affect the item's effectiveness, but it may
change how NPCs react—a merchant will offer much
DM: The troll lumbers towards you with a loud roar, less for damaged goods, and a noble may be offended to
Krazak. What do you do? receive anything that appears second-hand. Sometimes,
Krazak: Hah, a dwarf fears no troll. I swing my you might want your goods to have a few scratches—a
greataxe in a powerful arc... (rolls 1) and miss. Great.
fighter who wears pristine armor may look like they've
never been in battle, drawing scorn and derision.
DM: Your axe cuts deep into the adjacent stone wall There are four grades of item quality:
with a loud crack. It gains a notch of damage.
Krazak: Lucky I had this beauty tempered back in • Pristine. Never been notched. This item looks, feels,
town, she only gains ½ notch. and smells brand new.
• Worn. Has had only one notch at a time. This item
has one main defect that indicates use.
Applying a Temper • Well-Worn. Has had two or three notches at one time.
This item shows heavy signs of use.
To temper a piece of equipment, you need four things: • Scarred. Has had four or more notches at one time.
time, facilities, materials, and skill. You won't usually be This item looks shabby and in poor condition.
able to temper gear yourself—such work requires special
training—so keep an eye out for trained craftsmen. Resale Value
Tempering Costs The quality of an item impacts how much a merchant
may offer you for it—lower quality means lower prices.
Quality Cost Time Tempered Value

Pure Base Value x 2 3 days Base Value x 3 Resale Value

Royal Base Value x 4 1 week Base Value x 6 Quality Resale Value Quality Resale Value
Pristine 75% Well-Worn 25%
Astral Base Value x 8 2 weeks Base Value x 12
Worn 50% Scarred 10%

Craftsmen
It's relatively straightforward to find someone who can Restoring Items
apply a pure temper (for a price, of course), but royal or Item quality can be restored by an appropriate crafts-
astral tempering is extremely rare—you'll need to search man. This usually requires 1 week per grade, though
far and wide for such legendary craftsmen. rare or delicate items may take longer.
Rare Materials
Item Restoration
Rare and unique equipment may require special
materials for tempering—ore from ancient mines, red Quality Cost
dragon scales, gems from a slaad's brain. Recovering Worn to Pristine 50%
these components may be an adventure in itself.
Well-Worn to Worn 30%

Repairing Tempered Gear Scarred to Well-Worn 10%

As you temper equipment, its inherent value increases.
But it also becomes more expensive to repair damage Magic items are much more difficult to restore than
whilst maintaining the temper—make sure you have mundane items—you may need to find an elite artisan or
enough coin to look after your gear. some especially rare materials to finish the restoration.
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 8

Ammunition

S
quiver.
of some kind—arrows, darts, stones, bolts, bullets,
etc. But in the heat of battle, it's not always clear
exactly how much ammo you have left in your
Average Uses per Die Size
Die Size Remaining
Uses (Average)
Die Size Remaining
Uses (Average)
d20 30 d8 9
This chapter introduces ammunition dice as a means
of tracking ammunition supplies. d12 20 d6 5
d10 14 d4 2

The Ammunition Die Ammunition Stacks

Instead of tracking each individual shot, take a d12—this If you're carrying multiple stacks of any one type of
is your Ammunition die. Roll it whenever you take a shot: ammunition, prioritise the smallest stack first—always
if you roll a 1 or 2, the die gets one size smaller: roll the smallest ammunition die per ammo type.
Special Ammo
d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4 → 1 If your ammunition is rare or has limited uses—fire
arrows, magic bolts, lighting bullets, etc—don't use an
If you're down to one piece of ammunition and you use it, ammunition die. Track each shot as you use them.
that's it—you've used the last piece, so remove the
ammunition completely from your inventory. Replenishing Ammunition
Most ammunition types will usually start with (and
have a maximum size of) a d12 ammunition die—this To increase your ammunition die you can recover ammo
represents a full stack of arrows/bolts/bullets/etc. from the environment, buy a new stack, or pay a small
percentage of the total cost to increase your die by one
step based on the maximum die size for that ammo type
DM: The ghoul grabs hold of you tight, Viridian, For example, to replenish a stack of arrows (max size
moaning as it prepares to bite. What do you do? d12) from d8 to d10 would cost 20 cp (20% of 1 gp).
Viridian: Chansi, need a little help here!
Chansi: Yea kinda running low on arrows though, Replenishing Ammunition
ammunition die is down to a d4— Maximum Cost per Size Maximum Cost per Size
Viridian: TAKE THE DAMN SHOT, CHANSI! Die Increase Die Increase
Chansi: Fine, I'll shoot at the ghoul. That's... (rolls 15) d20 16% d8 33%
15 to hit. And... (rolls 1) damn, a 1 for ammunition. d12 20% d6 50%
Down to my last arrow. You're welcome, Viridian. d10 25% d4 100%

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28
 9

Potions

M
— ' Drinking Potions
you breathe, the food you eat, and the liquids
you drink. Through carefully preparation, this Drinking a potion requires you to spend a bonus action.
magic can be harnessed to create powerful Alternatively, to feed a potion to someone else, you must
consumables that help—or hinder—your adventures. spend an action. You must have at least one free hand to
This chapter introduces some changes to consumable perform either of these actions.
potions and how to interact with them.
Variant: Toxicity
If you want to make drinking potions more of a risk in
Magical Potions your campaign, consider using this Toxicity variant.
You may drink one potion per long rest without issue.
A potion is a magically-infused liquid that, when For every additional potion, you risk suffering toxicity—
consumed, can bestow an effect on your character— after you consume the potion, roll a d6 on the Potion
restoring health, damage resistance, strength, etc. Toxicity table below to see if you suffer any side-effect.
Potions can vary greatly in appearance, texture, and
taste depending on their recipe and maker—roll on the Potion Toxicity
tables below to randomly generate your potion details.
d6 Side-effect
Potion Description 1 Gain a level of exhaustion.
2-4 Lose a hit die, or gain a level of exhaustion if you have
d12 Texture Color Taste/Smell
no remaining hit die.
1 Thin Blue Citris
5-6 No side-effect.
2 Thick Red Sweet
3
4
Bubbly
Fizzy
Yellow
Silver
Sour
Bitter
Identifying Potions
Not all magic potions look alike—even a simple healing
5 Jelly Gold Salty
potion can vary wildly in appearance depending on who
6 Chunky Purple Savoury made it and which recipe was used.
7 Watery Orange Spicy During a short rest, you can attempt to identify any
8 Oily Green Foul
unidentified potions by making an Arcana knowledge
check with an alchemist's kit—one per potion. Base the
9 Slimy Brown Delicious DC against each potion's rarity.
10 Crunchy Black Sickening Success: You learn the true name of the potion.
11 Chewy White Tangy Fail: You know if the potion is at least safe to drink.
Critical Fail (10 or more): You (unknowingly) learn a
12 Moving Teal Familiar
false or misleading name of the potion.
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29
 Potion Identification DC
Viridian is a 3rd-level Bard / 1st-level Fighter, with 3d8
Rarity DC Rarity DC Rarity DC and 1d10 hit dice. When he drinks a lesser healing
Common 10 Rare 20 Legendary 30 potion, he uses his most common hit die size—d8.
Uncommon 15 Very rare 25 — —

While exploring the Nightglade, Chansi finds an

Potion of Stamina
unidentified potion—which the DM knows to be a rare Stamina potions grant a small burst of energy to those
Potion of Heroism. During the next short rest, she suffering from exhaustion—a potential life-saver on long,
attempts to identify it with her alchemist's kit—rolling dangerous journeys far from a safe resting place.
When you drink a stamina potion, you can ignore a
13 against a secret DC of 20. small amount of exhaustion for one hour. Once the
She doesn't discover exactly what it is, but she at potion wears off, your exhaustion returns.
least learns that it's not poisonous to drink.
Potion of Stamina
Identify Spells Item, Potion, Consumable

You can learn the true name of any potion using the This cold, black potion tastes strongly of old coffee
Identify spell (or similar magics). and sour milk. It fizzes when shaken.
You may ignore some exhaustion for one hour
Potion of Healing when you drink this potion—the better the quality, the
more exhaustion you can ignore. When the potion
Healing potions are an adventurer's best friend, bringing wears off, your exhaustion returns.
many a hero back from the brink of certain death.
When you drink a healing potion, don't roll a d4— Qualities
instead, roll the same die as your largest hit die. If you
don't have a hit die value for any reason, roll a d4. Type Rarity Effect (1 hour) Cost
Lesser Common −1 exhaustion 50 gp
Potion of Healing Greater Uncommon −2 exhaustion 150 gp
Item, Potion, Consumable
Superior Rare −4 exhaustion 450 gp
This red potion feels strangely warm to the touch. It Supreme Very rare Ignore all exhaustion 1,350 gp
tastes of cinnamon and orange.
You recover some hit points when you drink this
potion—the better the quality, the more hit points Chansi is suffering from two levels of exhaustion,
you are able to restore. causing disadvantage on ability checks and halving her
speed—not good when being chased by dire wolves.
Qualities As a bonus action, she drinks a lesser stamina
potion. For the next hour, she can ignore one level of
Type Rarity Recovery Cost
exhaustion—her total exhaustion drops from 2 to 1,
Lesser Common 2 [hit die] + 2 50 gp
removing the half-speed penalty. She can now—just
Greater Uncommon 4 [hit die] + 4 150 gp
barely—keep ahead of the howling wolves.
Superior Rare 6 [hit die] + 8 450 gp When the potion wears off after one hour, her total
Supreme Very rare 8 [hit die] + 16 1,350 gp level of exhaustion goes back up to 2.

Krazak, a barbarian, drinks a lesser healing potion with Exhaustion Limits

his bonus action. Using his hit die value (d12), he rolls Your total level of exhaustion cannot go lower than 0, nor
2d12 + 4 to see how many hit points he recovers. higher than 6, as per normal.
Exhaustion and Stamina
Multiclassed Characters Stamina potions can be a fun addition to your game if
If you are multiclassed and have hit dice of varying sizes, exhaustion is a common threat for your players, but if
use the hit die value of whichever class you have the exhaustion is rarely used—or has little risk—stamina potions
most levels in. On a tie, choose the highest. won't be of much interest.

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30
 10

Flasks

P
' , The Flask Die
it's not always sensible—or realistic—to carry a few
dozen potions at once. When you need to carry a Instead of tracking individual drinks, flask quantity is
lot of potion in a little container, use a flask. measured with a die—d8, d10, d12, etc. This is your
This chapter introduces potion flasks and rules on Flask die—roll it whenever you take a drink from the
how to use them in your campaign. flask: if you roll a 1 or 2, the die gets one size smaller:

Magical Flasks d20 → d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4 → 0

A flask is a small, magically-infused bottle (or other Once you roll a 1 or 2 on a d4, that's it—the flask is now
container) that can safely hold a large—but uncertain— completely empty until you can find a way to refill it.
amount of consumable potion (or other liquid).
Unlike potions, which typically come in single-use
vials, it's always hard to tell exactly how much liquid DM: The wizard's lightning bolt hits you for 11
remains inside a flask—you never quite know how many points of damage, Clanda. What do you do?
uses you'll get before it's all gone. Clanda: Damn it, I'm bloodied. Can't risk another hit
like that—I'll take a drink from my flask of healing as a
Flask Appearance bonus action and get... 7 hit points back.
d12 Material Color Style/Design DM: Great, now roll your flask die.
1 Fragile Glass Blue Human Clanda: Flask quantity is d4, so I roll a d4 and get...
2 Reinforced Glass Red Dwarven (rolls 1) damn—looks like that was the last of the flask.
3 Wood Yellow Elven
4 Porcelain Silver Orcish Average Uses & Costs
5 Bone Gold Draconic
Quantity Remaining Uses Cost to Buy
6 Clay Purple Undead (Average)
7 Leather Orange Celestial d20 30 22 x [base potion cost]
8 Stone Green Aberrant d12 20 15 x [base potion cost]
9 Resin Brown Elemental d10 14 10 x [base potion cost]
10 Metal Black Fiendish d8 9 6 x [base potion cost]
11 Dragonscale White Gnomish d6 5 3 x [base potion cost]
12 Plant Teal Monstrous d4 2 1 x [base potion cost]

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31
 Why did my flask decrease?
Filling your Flask
• You drank too much.
• You spilled some as you were drinking. If you have an empty flask and are proficient with an
• You overestimated how much was in there to begin with. alchemist's kit, you can fill an empty flask yourself by
combining together potions of the same type and pouring
them safely into the flask. This can be done during a
Splitting Flasks short or long rest.
Magic fades quickly from any liquid leaving the flask. If If you don't have the requisite tools or experience,
you pour the contents of a flask into another container— you'll need to find a trained alchemist to perform this
such as a potion vial, a cup, or a different flask—the service—pouring any ill-prepared potions into a flask will
magic fades within one round, becoming useless if not spoil the mixture, nullifying any magical properties.
consumed during that time.
Flask Refill
Getting a Flask Potions Used Flask
Quantity
Potions Used Flask
Quantity
There are three common ways to gain a flask: find one 1 d4 10 d10
on your adventures, buy one from a merchant, or—if you 3 d6 15 d12
have the right tools and training—create one.
6 d8 22 d20

Treasure & Rewards

You may find a flask on your adventures—in the ruins of a Refilling your Flask
wizard's tower, on the corpse of a dead explorer, in the Potions are volatile and don't like to be mixed. If you
locked chest of a rich merchant—or be awarded one as a pour any potion—even one of the same kind—into a
reward for some heroic deed. Flasks found as treasure partially-filled flask, the contents immediately spoil and
will usually have a d4 or d6 quantity. lose all magical properties.
Variant: Mixing Potions
Buying a Flask If you want to include some variety when mixing potions
Flasks are an uncommon item that, depending on your in flasks, roll a d20 on the table below. This roll should
setting, may not be easily available. If you can find a be done in secret—the player does not notice any change
vendor selling flasks, an empty flask is a small item that without first making a successful identifying action.
costs 5 gp.
The cost of a partially-filled flask will depend on its Mixing Potions
quantity and contents—see the Average Uses & Costs
table for an exact breakdown. d20 Effect
1-5 The contents lose their original properties and
become a potion of poison.
Valiant wants to buy a flask of healing with d6 quantity.
6-16 The contents are spoiled and lose all magical
One potion of healing normally costs 50 gp, so the properties.
flask will cost him 150 gp (3 x 50).
17-19 No change in the contents.
20 The contents lose their original properties and gain
Flask of Healing the effect of the newly-added liquid.
Item, Uncommon, Potion, Consumable

This flask contains d6 drinks of healing potion. When Variant: Topping Up

you take a drink, roll a flask die—if you roll a 1 or 2, If you are proficient with an alchemist's kit, you can top-
up a partially-filled flask during a short or long rest if you
the flask quantity gets one size smaller. have enough potions. As a proficient alchemist, this does
not risk spoiling the contents of the flask.
Creating a Flask
Topping Up
If you are proficient with both the Arcana skill and a set
of appropriate artisan's tools (glassblower, smith, Flask Quantity Potions Flask Quantity Potions
woodcarver, or potter), you can attempt to create a new, Needed Needed
empty flask during a long rest. d4 → d6 +2 d10 → d12 +5
Creating a flask costs 5 gp of materials and requires a d6 → d8 +3 d12 → d20 +7
successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) skill check—on a
failure, the flask shatters and is rendered useless. d8 → d10 +4 — —

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32
 11

Oils

B
,
to research your enemy. Discover their strengths
and weaknesses, and exploit their vulnerabilities
Creating Oils
as best you can to ensure success—with the right If you are proficient with both Arcana and an alchemist's
equipment, even the mightiest monsters can be slain. kit, you can attempt to create an oil during a long rest.
This chapter introduces magical oils and ways you The main component of a magical oil is gemstone
can use them to enhance your weapons and armor. dust—you need an amount of dust equal to 80% of the
value of the oil you wish to create. Each oil draws its
power from a different type of gemstone:
Magical Oils
Oil Components
Oils are magically-infused ointments that can coat
weapons and armor to produce a temporary magical Oil Dust Oil Dust
effect—resistances, additional damage, etc. Oils last for Accuracy Pearl Nightmares Amethyst
one hour, proving an effect until they naturally evaporate
or are otherwise cleaned off. A coated weapon or armor Blessing Diamond Power Garnet
counts as magical for the duration of the effect. Corruption Emerald Resilience Aquamarine
Decay Onyx Speed Jet
In the Spiteful Halls, Krazak fights the dangerous Flame Energy Topaz Spite Peridot
King—a fire elemental vulnerable to cold damage. Flameheart Ruby Thunderstrike Alexandrite
Luckily, Krazak came prepared. The dwarf spends a
Frost Sapphire — —
bonus action to pour some Oil of Frost over his
greataxe. As the oil coats the weapon, it gains the cold
Once you have your gemstone dust, you must make an
damage type. Intelligence (Arcana) check using your alchemist's kit to
see if you successfully create the oil—the DC depends on
Applying an Oil the rarity of the intended oil: uncommon (DC 10), rare
(DC 15), or very rare (20). If you fail, the components are
You can spend a bonus action to apply an oil to a lost in the attempt.
weapon, piece of armor, or stack of ammunition within
reach. You must have at least one free hand to do this.
You cannot apply an oil to anything held by an unwilling, During a long rest, Clanda wants to create some Oil of
conscious target. Decay. After buying 120 gp of onyx dust, she rolls a
An item—whether weapon, armor, or ammunition— DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check with her alchemist's
can only benefit from one oil at a time. When you apply kit to try and prepare the uncommon oil.
an oil, it replaces any currently active oil on the item.
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33
 Elemental Oils
Name Effect on Weapons Effect on Armor Rarity Cost
Oil of Blessing Deal Radiant damage Gain Necrotic resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Blessing (Greater) Deal Radiant damage +1 Gain Necrotic resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Blessing (Superior) Deal Radiant damage +1d4 Gain Necrotic immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Corruption Deal Poison damage Gain Acid resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Corruption (Greater) Deal Poison damage +1 Gain Acid resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Corruption (Superior) Deal Poison damage +1d4 Gain Acid immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Decay Deal Necrotic damage Gain Radiant resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Decay (Greater) Deal Necrotic damage +1 Gain Radiant resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Decay (Superior) Deal Necrotic damage +1d4 Gain Radiant immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Energy Deal Lightning damage Gain Thunder resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Energy (Greater) Deal Lightning damage +1 Gain Thunder resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Energy (Superior) Deal Lightning damage +1d4 Gain Thunder immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Flameheart Deal Fire damage Gain Cold resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Flameheart (Greater) Deal Fire damage +1 Gain Cold resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Flameheart (Superior) Deal Fire damage +1d4 Gain Cold immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Frost Deal Cold damage Gain Fire resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Frost (Greater) Deal Cold damage +1 Gain Fire resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Frost (Superior) Deal Cold damage +1d4 Gain Fire immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Nightmares Deal Psychic damage Gain Force resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Nightmares (Greater) Deal Psychic damage +1 Gain Force resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Nightmares (Superior) Deal Psychic damage +1d4 Gain Force immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Resilience Deal Force damage Gain Psychic resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Resilience (Greater) Deal Force damage +1 Gain Psychic resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Resilience (Superior) Deal Force damage +1d4 Gain Psychic immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Spite Deal Acid damage Gain Poison resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Spite (Greater) Deal Acid damage +1 Gain Poison resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Spite (Superior) Deal Acid damage +1d4 Gain Poison immunity Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Thunderstrike Deal Thunder damage Gain Lightning resistance (50%) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Thunderstrike (Greater) Deal Thunder damage +1 Gain Lightning resistance (75%) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Thunderstrike (Superior) Deal Thunder damage +1d4 Gain Lightning immunity Very rare 2,400 gp

Enhancement Oils
Name Effect on Weapons Effect on Armor Rarity Cost
Oil of Accuracy Gain +1 to hit Gain +1 AC Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Accuracy (Greater) Gain +2 to hit Gain +2 AC Rare 600 gp
Oil of Accuracy (Superior) Gain +3 to hit Gain +3 AC Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Power Deal +1 damage Reduce damage taken by 1 (min. 1) Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Power (Greater) Deal +2 damage Reduce damage taken by 2 (min. 1) Rare 600 gp
Oil of Power (Superior) Deal +3 damage Reduce damage taken by 3 (min. 1) Very rare 2,400 gp
Oil of Speed Gain +1 opportunity attack per round Increase max speed by +5 ft Uncommon 150 gp
Oil of Speed (Greater) Gain +2 opportunity attacks per round Increase max speed by +10 ft Rare 600 gp
Oil of Speed (Superior) Gain +3 opportunity attacks per round Increase max speed by +20 ft Very rare 2,400 gp

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34
 PART 3
Taking Action

12 Taking Action p36

p36
Tweaks and additions to a variety of action types.

13 Active Defence p38

p38
Change combat with player-owned defence rolls.

14 Active Initiative p40

p40
A dynamic, communication-driven initiative order.

15 Degrees of Success p42

p42
Track the scale of player success and failure.

16 Active XP p44
p44
Gain experience by recovering lost treasures.

17 Dangerous Magic p47

p47
Add risk to your magic with magical burnout.

18 Making a Journey p50

p50
Take long-distance travels with the Journey phase.
 12

Taking Action

I
' .Y
rickety bridge? Climb the crumbling wall? Kick down
the old door? Great, now make a roll to see if you
Social Interaction
succeed. There is more to social interaction than just charisma—
This chapter sets out some changes to rolling intelligence and wisdom are just as important, and each
mechanics with untyped skill bonuses, broader social has their own role to play in conversation.
interaction, and other minor additions. When interacting with an NPC, the context of your
action determines which ability you are using: smarts
(intelligence), feelings (wisdom), or presence (charisma).
Open Skills • Intelligence: You're trying to be clever. Debate,
With Open Skills, your skills are no longer tied to a reason, negotiate, lie, manipulate, wit, and threaten.
single ability—instead, you may apply your skill bonus to • Wisdom: You're trying to soothe or connect feelings.
any ability check that feels appropriate. Rapport, empathise, calm, discretion, and tact.
When you are taking an action, try to consider which • Charisma: You're trying to be likeable or dominating.
ability and skill pairing is the best fit for your situation. Charm, bluff, banter, incite, command, and intimidate.
You may only use one ability and one skill per check.
Here we see Clanda, sitting with her friends in a village
tavern, overhear an ill-informed farmer.
DM: Valiant, a guard blocks the door with his spear.
"You ain't going in there," he says bluntly.
Valiant: Do I recognise the guard? DM: The farmer says "I 'eard that if yous eat a frog on
DM: No, but you do recognise the symbol on his a full moon, yous get to jump high like a frog".
necklace—the scales of Kelemvor, Lord of the Dead. Clanda: This stupid peasant. "There is no way that is
Valiant: He follows my god? Perfect. "Not often I true," I tell him. Angrily.
meet one of His agents," I say, showing my necklace DM: "Yea it is, I 'eard it from those boys over at the
and symbol. "How long have you served Him?" Grange farm. The moon magic turns you into one o'
DM: The guard smiles at you. "Oh since I were a boy. them lick-oh-tropes." The farmer is resolute in his
My old man was a gravedigger—knew the rites, taught belief—it's going to be very hard to change his mind.
me the words. Done right by me so far, has the Lord." Clanda: Hold my beer, guys—I'm going to talk some
Valiant: I'll ask a few more questions, talk a little faith brains back into this fool. Ok farm boy, let's start off
—see if I can get this guy on my side and let me pass. with some basic pronounciation...
DM: if you're trying to get him to like you, that'll be a DM: Ok, roll a DC 25 Intelligence check. As you're
DC 15 Charisma check. You can add Religion to that. attempting to change his mind, add Persuasion.

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36
 Help Tools
If you take the Help action to grant advantage to an ally, A tool helps you do something you couldn't otherwise do
you get to roll one of the two d20 during the attempt. —pick a lock, craft an item, forge a document. Some
Your ally adds their normal bonuses as if they had tools are basic enough to provide basic use without
rolled the die themselves. training—cook's utensils, painter's supplies, dice games.
Most, however, require proficiency to use properly.
If you are proficient with a tool, add your proficiency
DM: The owlbear screeches as the two of you bonus to any ability check made with it. If you are
surround it. Viridian, Krazak—what do you do? proficient with both a tool and a skill—for example, an
Viridian: This guy looks pretty wild. I'll help distract instrument with Performance, cook's utensils with
the beast, Krazak, while you— Survival, a healer's kit with Medicine—you may add your
Krazak: Hit it with the axe?
proficiency bonus and make your roll with advantage.
Viridian: Hit it with the axe. Ok I'll make a feint to
the left (rolls 18)... DM: The crowd are getting restless.
Krazak: And I'll swing the axe to the right (rolls 6)... Viridian: This could get ugly... Everyone likes music,
DM: Thanks to Viridian's feint, Krazak's axe bites right? I'll play a song, see if I can calm everyone down
deep into the owlbear. Roll your damage, Krazak. before anyone does something stupid.
DM: You want to sooth the rowdy crowd with
music? Ok, that'll be a DC 20 Wisdom check.
Teamwork Viridian: I'm proficient in Performance, and I'll use
my lyre—I'm proficient with that as well.
You can't roll multiple attempts for the same action— DM: Perfect. Make the roll with Advantage.
recalling a piece of knowledge, sweet-talking the castle
guard, pushing a heavy boulder aside. But you can work
together with your allies to make that one attempt as
successful as possible.
Anyone with a relevant skill or background may help
Knowledge Checks
you attempt something—the first person grants you Knowledge is a valuable resource, and can sometimes
advantage (per the Help action), and every additional mean the difference between life or death. Characters
person grants you a +1 bonus. If the roll fails, however, shouldn't be able to tell if their information is false by
everyone involved is liable for the consequences. knowing they rolled a low number on the check.
The DM always rolls knowledge checks—including
perception and insight checks—in secret on behalf of the
Initiative player, and then reveals knowledge accordingly. If it's a
failure, give the character some misleading information—
Reaction speed is determined first-and-foremost by your the larger the failure, the greater the mislead.
thoughts—the faster you can think, the faster your brain
can tell your body to act.
When rolling for initiative, do not add your Dexterity DM: The creature lumbers out of the shadows,
modifier—instead, add your Intelligence modifier. Break stretching out a rotten vine. You recognise it as a
ties first with Dexterity, then Wisdom. shambling mound, Chansi—what do you do?
Chansi: I've spent a long of time out in the wilds—
Tactical Wit do I know what their weakness is?
If you are a War Wizard, your Tactical Wit class feature DM: Let's see... (rolls 3 in secret—a failure). You
now grants a Dexterity bonus—not Intelligence. remember notes from an old almanac. Apparently
This may also apply to other unique class features or lightning is very bad for mounds and their senses.
item powers, so judge accordingly. Chansi: Perfect! And I have four lighting arrows left. I
shoot one immediately at the mound (rolls 19).
Improving Intelligence DM: A clear hit. The arrow strikes the mound and a
Dexterity is a very influential stat in vanilla 5e, determining burst of lightning erupts... to no effect. The mound
attack rolls, damage, initiative bonuses, and (by far) the most advances on you, unfazed.
common saving throw. Chansi: ...What?
Moving initiative rolls from DEX to INT is a small tweak
Viridian: That's some good memory you have there,
that helps to rebalance the abilities, curbing the dominion of
Dexterity whilst expanding the utility of the weakest ability— Chansi. Real effective.
Intelligence—in a way that impacts all characters equally. Chansi: Shut. Up. Viridian.

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 13

Active Defence

I
, ' Example of Play
around waiting to be hit by the enemy—they take
defence into their own hands by dodging, blocking, Here we see Valiant, Sarien, and Clanda being attacked
and parrying attacks. Don't sit and watch your enemy by three orcs. Where the DM would normally be rolling
throw an attack—roll to see how well you avoid it. attack rolls for the monster, the players make defence
This chapter introduces defence rolls and saving rolls to avoid the incoming attacks.
attacks, putting defence back into player control.
DM: The three orcs rush forward, rage in their eyes.
Defence Rolls Two of them hack at you with their greataxes, Valiant,
while the third stabs at Sarien with a javelin.
Whenever the DM would normally make an attack roll
against a player character, that player instead makes a Valiant: I raise my shield to block. What's the DC?
defence roll to see if they can avoid the attack—dodge, DM: DC 27 (22 + orc attack bonus (+5)).
duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way to success. Valiant: Here goes... (rolls 30 (13 + AC 17)) I bash
Roll a d20 and add your full AC—this your defence the first attack aside with my shield, and... (rolls 22)
roll. The opposing DC is 22 plus the attacker's normal damn, I get caught by the second.
attack bonus. DM: The second axe catches your arm painfully—
take 9 points of damage.
Defence Roll: d20 + your AC Valiant: That hurts—a bad cut.
DC: attacker's attack bonus + 22 Sarien: I've got your back, Valiant. Let me just dodge
this javelin first... (rolls natural 1) oh that's bad.
If your defence roll equals or beats the DC, you
successfully avoid the attack. If you fail, the attack hits. DM: You stumble right into the path of the javelin,
If your attacker has advantage on their attack, you Sarien, which stabs you right in the shoulder. Take 12
instead apply disadvantage to your defence roll—and vice points of damage.
versa if your attacker has disadvantage. Valiant: Great job, Sarien, good dodge there.
Sarien: On my next turn, I throttle Valiant.
Criticals
If your defence roll comes up as a natural 1, it's a critical Static Damage
fail—you are critically hit by the attack. Roll a natural 20
and it's a critical success—you defend with style. Instead of rolling for damage, anything controlled by the DM
If your attacker would normally score a critical hit on —NPCs, monsters, traps, environmental effects—may deal
a roll of 19 or 20, then the attack is a critical hit on a 1 or static damage according to its average value. If the attack is a
2, and so forth. critical hit, double the damage.

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Portent Example of Play
If you are a divination wizard, it's easy to use your At the end of the DM's turn, it's Clanda's time to shine.
Portent ability with Active Defence. Where the DM would normally roll saving throws for the
If you give a portent result to someone making a orcs to avoid Acid Splash, Clanda instead makes a saving
defence roll they may use either the normal value or the attack and rolls to hit each orc.
d20-inverse value (calculated as 21 - portent value). She only rolls the spell damage once—no matter the
number of targets—rolling extra only when she lands a
critical hit per the massive damage variant rule.
Emwyn, a divination wizard, has a portent result of 3
remaining. When he is attacked by an orc, Emwyn
must make a defence roll. He chooses to use his DM: Ok Clanda, it's your turn next. Valiant's under
portent instead of rolling, as takes the inverse value of attack and Sarien's stumbling about—what do you do?
18 (21 − 3)—Emwyn's defence result is 17 + his AC. Clanda: Ugh, I hate orcs. It's time to even the odds. I
cast Acid Splash at the two orcs attacking Valiant.
Valiant: You're throwing acid at me?
Saving Attacks Clanda: Hush, it'll be fine. What's the DC?
DM: DC 23 (22 + orc dexerity saving throw (+1)).
Whenever the DM would normally roll a saving throw, Clanda: Ok, I hurl this orb of acid... (rolls 23 (10 +
the player instead makes a saving attack to see if they SDC 13)) It barely hits the first, scorching him for...
can overcome the target's defences.
When you make a saving attack, roll a d20 and add (rolls 2) hmm, not very much.
your normal spell save DC. The opposing DC is 22 plus DM: The orc snarls with irritation as a few drops of
the target's saving throw bonus. If the spell would affect acid catch on his thick leather armor.
multiple targets, make a separate attack roll for each— Clanda: The second... (rolls natural 20) critical hit!
but roll the damage only once for all targets. Some acid splashes on the orc's face, causing... (rolls 6
extra critical damage) great, 8 points of acid damage!
Saving Attack Roll: d20 + your spell save DC DM: The orc roars in pain and falls to the ground,
DC: target's saving throw bonus + 22 clutching at his face as the flesh melts away.
Valiant: Gross.
If your saving attack equals or beats the DC, you Clanda: Do I hear a thank you? Manners, Valiant.
successfully land the attack. If you fail, the attack misses
or is blocked by the target.
If your target has advantage on their saving throw,
apply disadvantage to your saving attack instead—and
vice versa if your target has disadvantage.
Variant: Small Defence
If you prefer to deal with smaller modifiers, use this
Criticals Small Defence variant and reduce the +22 attack bonus
for defence rolls and saving attacks to something more
Per normal rules, saving attack spells cannot critically inline with other common modifiers.
hit nor critically miss.
Variant: Massive Damage Defence Rolls
If you want to add the potential for some massive When you make a defence roll, roll a d20 and add your
damage spikes to your game, allow saving attack spells AC − 10. The opposing DC is 12 plus the attacker's
to deal critical damage. normal attack bonus.
On a critical hit, roll all of the attack's damage dice
twice. On a critical fail, however, the spell has no effect at Defence Roll: d20 + (your AC − 10)
all—even if it would normally cause an effect on a miss.
DC: attacker's attack bonus + 12

Clanda: Let's see if this myconid can take a fireball.

DM: Ok Clanda, roll your saving attack. Saving Attacks
Clanda: Piece of cake... (rolls 20) now that's more When you make a saving attack, roll a d20 and add your
like it! Poor myconid, critically hit with a 3rd-level normal spell save DC − 8. The opposing DC is 14 plus
fireball? That'll be 16d6, please. I love my job.
the target's saving throw bonus.

Saving Attack Roll: d20 + (your spell save DC − 8)

Apply this rule to both players and monsters for fairness
—if players can crit more often, so too can the monsters. DC: target's saving throw bonus + 14

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 14

Active Initiative

C
' ' Step 1. Who Goes First?
to wait in line to take their turn—the flow of battle
is always dynamic and unpredictable. Work with The first step is to figure out who acted first and
your allies to support each other, chain together triggered the scene. Most times it will be obvious which
powers and tactics, and exploit weak points as one well- character started things—someone throws the first
oiled team of adventurers. punch, or steps on the trap, or casts a spell.
This chapter introduces the Active Initiative system,
allowing players to choose who acts next in the round. DM: You're surrounded, Valiant. The hobgoblin
sneers at you. "Throw down your weapon, cleric, and
The Dynamic Round maybe we'll only cut off one hand."
Valiant: Pft, I haven't forgotten last time—never trust
With Active Initiative, there is no pre-determined order of a hobgoblin. I raise my shield and charge.
initiative. Instead, once a person has finished their turn,
they get to choose who goes next—another player, group DM: You're triggering the fight, Valiant—you have
of monsters, or environmental hazard. the first turn.
A basic round follows four simple steps:
If it's not obvious who acted first, you can determine this
1. Who goes first?: Decide who triggered the scene and randomly by rolling for initiative—whoever rolls highest
acted first. Did you throw the first punch? goes first. After that first turn is complete, switch to
2. Take turns: Take your turn. Once you've finished your dynamic turn ordering as described here.
actions, you get to pick who goes next.
3. End the round: Once everyone's finished their turn, Step 2. Take Turns
end the round and clear up any expired effects.
4. Start a new round: If there's still conflict, the last Take your turn as normal. Once you've finished your
person to act gets to decide who starts the new round. actions, you get to pick who goes next—this can be any
other character, creature, hazard, or group of monsters
Why Use Active Initiative? that hasn't acted yet in the current round.
Interrupting: Anyone who took damage during your
There are four main benefits of switching to Active Initiative:
turn can steal the initiative from you at the end of your
turn (see Interrupting), so be careful who you attack.
1. Better teamwork: Players can work together more easily
to chain their actions togther into big combo-moves. Delaying
2. More communication: Players talk more to each other.
You cannot pass or delay once your turn begins, but you
3. More attentive players: Players are actively watching
what's happening for opportunities to jump in and act.
can ready an action. This doesn't change your turn order
4. It's easy: No dice or math—just say who goes next. —if your triggered action is the last act in a turn, you
don't get to choose the next person to act.
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40
 Monster Groups
To prevent a routine side-vs-side combat or scene, make
Example of Play
sure to create a variety of taggable groups. Avoid using large Here's an example of how to use Active Initiative in a
groups of monsters—break them up and aim for 1 taggable basic round of combat—Chansi, Valiant, and Clanda are
monster or group per player at the start of a scene. fighting a hobgoblin and four goblins. With three players,
the DM has three Interrupt Points for this scene.
Step 3. End the Round Chansi makes an attack, but draws attention to
herself in the process. She then passes over to Valiant.
Once all characters and creatures have finished their
turn, end the round as normal and clear up any expired
effects—spells, powers, timers, etc. DM: The hobgoblin roars an order out to the goblins
and they spring forward. Chansi, you've got the highest
Effect Duration
initiative—what do you do?
Effects that last a specific duration of rounds tick down
at the end of each round. Once a duration reaches 0, the Chansi: I fire an arrow at the hobgoblin... (rolls 11)
effect has ended and can be removed. oof, that's a bad start.
Any effects that would expire at the start or end of DM: Your arrow misses by a wide margin. The
your turn are unchanged, expiring as normal. hobgoblin shouts, and three of the goblins look at you.
Chansi: That doesn't sound good. Valiant, might
Valiant casts Bless—a concentration spell that lasts for need you to draw some attention here...
1 minute (10 rounds). At the end of each round, the Valiant: I'm on it. I move forward and strike at the
remaining duration simply decreases by 1 round. nearest goblin with my war pick (rolls 16).
Clanda, meanwhile, uses Shield to deflect an attack. DM: The goblin curses aloud as you hit it. How
This spell ends whenever she takes her next turn. much damage does it take?
Valiant: 6 points. Then with my War Priest initiative, I
swing round to hit another goblin (rolls 17).
Step 4. Start a New Round DM: Another hit—the goblin screeches as it takes...?
If there's still conflict to resolve, start a new round. The Valiant: 7 points of damage. Now that should get
last person to act in the current round decides who starts their attention.
the new round—they cannot pick themselves.
Having finished his turn, Valiant prepares to pass over to
Interrupting Clanda. The DM, however, chooses to interrupt with one
of the monsters.
If you haven't taken your turn yet this round, you have a As the goblins took damage during Valiant's turn, they
chance to steal the initiative and take the next turn—even could interrupt for free. However, the DM spends an
if you were not nominated. This is called an interrupt. Interrupt Point to allow the hobgoblin to act instead.
There are two main ways in which you can do this:
1. You can spend an Inspiration Point to interrupt. Valiant: Ok Clanda, you're up next.
2. If you took damage during the last turn, you can Clanda: Perfect. I—
choose to interrupt for free. DM: Before you can act, Clanda, the hobgoblin
interrupts (spends an Interrupt Point) and leaps
If you choose to interrupt, you must do so before the next forward towards Valiant. He swings his longsword in a
person starts their turn. You can't interrupt if you've
already acted this round, and you can't interrupt an ally. fierce two-handed arc and hits, dealing 6 damage.
Valiant: Ouch.

Monster Interrupt Points DM: And with the goblins around you, Valiant, the
hobgoblin's attack is even more dangerous thanks to
Each scene, the DM gets one free Interrupt Point per Martial Advantage—take another 7 points of damage.
player. The DM may spend one of these points to steal
the initiative, but can only use one point per round. Valiant: Son of a...
DM: The hobgoblin laughs coldly, licking the blood
from its blade. "You have my attention, little cleric," he
Interrupts & Inspiration
sneers. The goblins begin to move—
Interrupt Points exist to give the DM a power similar to Clanda: I think not (spends an Inspiration Point to
player Inspiration Points. But if Inspiration is not a common
feature in your game—or players aren't spending their points Interrupt). Enough of this nonsense. Don't move,
to make interrupts—don't give the DM any Interrupt Points. Valiant, unless you want this Fireball in your face...

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 15

Degrees of Success

S
, , Boons
don't always win. But not all failures are equal—
sometimes we mess up a little, and sometimes we When a character succeeds, something good happens
mess up catastrophically. Sometimes, we even and they get what they wanted.
have a chance to prevent failure—at a small, extra cost. Here are some example boons that you might apply
This chapter introduces degrees of success, allowing when a character succeeds in their efforts—one boon for
you to judge the scale of success and failure accordingly. a success, and two for a critical success.

Success & Failure Boons

d20 Boon
When you attempt an action that has a chance of failure, 1 You restore some hit points
compare your result to the DC and check the list below
to see just how well you did. 2 You gain a hit die
3 You find some extra gold
• Critical Success: You succeeded by 10 or more on a 4 You gain a favour from an ally
skill check, or rolled a natural 20 on an attack. Things 5 You regain a spell slot
have gone perfectly. You achieve your goal and
something else happens in your favour. 6 You deal extra damage
• Success: You achieve your goal. 7 You heal some mental stress
• Minor Failure or Success at a Cost: You failed by 1, 8 You may spend a hit die to recover some hit points
2, or 3. You can choose to succeed, but something bad
also happens as a consequence. 9 You may switch places with a nearby ally
• Failure: You failed by 4 or more. Something bad 10 You can move to an advantageous position
happens—you take damage, gain Stress, lose a hit die, 11 You learn a piece of rare information
a Condition worsens, etc. 12 You (temporarily) lose one level of exhaustion
• Critical Failure: You failed by 10 or more on a skill
check, or rolled a natural 1 on an attack. It's all gone 13 A magic item regains one charge
badly for you and you suffer a second consequence in 14 The locals hear about your achievement
addition to the normal failure effects—you take extra 15 You apply a condition to your enemy
damage, lose a hit die, drop an item, etc. 16 A god notices your achievement
17 A condition improves
Krazak is critically hit by an enemy. He first takes damage 18 You gain advantage to your next roll
for failing to dodge, then additional damage (the crit 19 Your enemies are intimidated by you
damage) for critically failing—two consequences total. 20 You move your enemy

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Consequences Examples of Play
When a character fails an action, something bad
happens. Here are some consequences you might apply Here are two examples of using degrees of success—one
when a character fails a roll—one consequence for a to demonstrate Success at a Cost and how negotiation
failure, and two for a critical failure. works, and another to show critical failure in action.
Chansi is trapped on a collapsing ledge over a dark
Consequences abyss. Luckily, her friends have thrown down a rope for
her to climb to safety.
d20 Consequence
1 You or an ally take damage
DM: The ground is crumbling beneath your feet,
2 An enemy reacts and takes an action
Chansi. There's a rope hanging ahead, over the abyss.
3 You gain some mental stress Chansi: I leap out and grab hold of it.
4 Take a notch on your weapon/armor/item DM: Ok, that's a DC 15 Strength check.
5 You lose an item Chansi: I should be able to use Athletics for this, so
6 One of your conditions worsens that's... (rolls 14) augh, so close!
7 Your torch goes out DM: Very close indeed, the rope barely slips past
8 An NPC becomes hostile to you your fingers. You have a chance to Succeed at a Cost...
9 You lose some gold Chansi: Damn, I can't fall into the abyss. Perhaps...
10 You learn some misinformation something falls out of my bag as I grab hold? Those
11 Your enemy becomes enraged old mushrooms I picked up earlier maybe?
12 You gain the attention of the local guards
DM: It has to be something precious to you.
Chansi: Ah. Well I was really hoping to use this
13 You drop your weapon
healing potion later...
14 You stop and fall prone
DM: Perfect. For a moment you fall, barely catching
15 You are poisoned or diseased
the rope at the last second with your other hand. But
16 You are imprisoned
as you hang, you hear a small rip from your bag and
17 A crowd turns against you
your healing potion tumbles into the abyss below.
18 A higher authority learns of your misdoings Chansi: Augh, I really needed that potion...
19 A god punishes you
20 You lose some ammunition or hit dice Viridan has bluffed his way into a meeting with a local
lord, hoping to convince the lord to lend his support to
Success at a Cost the defence of a nearby village.
When you fail by a narrow margin, you can choose to
instead succeed at a cost. You get what you want, but DM: Lord Erasius looks at you coldly, Viridian. "And
something bad happens to you as a consequence. why should I trust you, stranger?"
This may require some negotiation with the DM—if Viridian: Hmm. I want to convince Erasius that I'm
you can't both agree on the cost, you can't succeed.
Check the Offerings table below for some inspiration. nobility with access to the king. If Erasius will support
us, I can put in a few words to boost his reputation.
DM: Ok, that's a tricky lie. You haven't had time to
Offerings
prepare this, so it's an off-the-cuff bluff—make a DC
d10 Offering 25 Charisma check.
1 25% or 50% of your total hit points Viridian: Can I use History with this?
2 One or more hit dice DM: Yes, you know enough about the local lands to
3 One or more spell slots throw around a few names.
4 An item gains a notch Viridian: Great. That's... (rolls 13) not good.
5 You gain a condition DM: No, it isn't—it's a critical failure. Erasius can see
6 You gain the attention of the enemy right through your lies, and—as a second consequence
7 You are moved into a disadvantageous position —he's extremely offended. "You come into my home
8 You lose an item and dare lie right to my face? Perhaps some time in
9 Gain a level of exhaustion our dungeons will extract the truth from you. Guards!"
10 Lose some gold Viridian: Son of a...

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 16

Active XP

E
— ,
can discover new abilities and reach higher peaks
of strength. But you don't gain experience staying
Advancement
in your comfort zone—the only way to grow is to With Active XP, don't use the standard 5e leveling table—
push beyond your limits and brave the countless dangers instead, use the Character Advancement table listed
of the world. below. This details the amount of experience a character
With Active XP, you don't gain experience for just needs to gain per level before they can level up.
killing monsters—instead, you gain experience by being
active in one of three fields: discovery, recovery, and Character Advancement
adversity.
Level XP Level XP Level XP
1. Discovery: Explore the world, meet new people, and 0-1 150 7-8 2,260 14-15 23,810
uncover secrets—hidden dungeons, ancient cults,
legendary monsters. You gain more experience the 1-2 300 8-9 3,160 15-16 33,330
rarer and more valuable your discovery. 2-3 420 9-10 4,430 16-17 46,660
2. Recovery: Recover treasure and valuables from
uncivilized, monstrous, or abandoned areas— 3-4 590 10-11 6,200 17-18 65,330

gemstones from an ancient tomb, a dragon's hoard, a 4-5 820 11-12 8,680 18-19 91,460
hidden chest of jewels. 5-6 1,150 12-13 12,150 19-20 128,050
You gain 10 exp per gold piece (1 exp per silver
piece) of recovered treasure, making this the most 6-7 1,610 13-14 17,010 — —
efficient means of gaining experience.
3. Adversity: Face danger and survive perilous Spending Experience
situations—recover from near death, challenge a red
dragon, defeat a horde of orcs. The bigger the danger, Once you've gained experience points, you can spend
the bigger your experience—if you survive. them to level up. If you are using the Training rules p85
in your game, spend the experience after you have
The best way for a character to grow is to be active and completed your training time.
go out adventuring in the wilds, exploring the great
unknown. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Valiant, a level 1 cleric, returns to Darrowmore with
250 XP and a rare, golden goblet worth 10 GP. He
Treasure-centric Rewards
donates the goblet to his church and gains 100 XP.
Active XP encourages players to hunt for rare treasures, and Now at 350 XP, Valiant has enough experience to
is best suited to a particular style of game—namely, level up. After a week of training, he spends 300 XP to
campaigns that focus on exploration and treasure-hunting. ascend to level 2—leaving 50 XP remaining.

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44
 Awarding Experience Rate of Experience
Characters are generally expected to have around three
The DM is responsible for awarding XP to players. adventures per level. In a treasure-focused campaign, 75%
These guides will help determine the amount of XP a of the total XP should come from treasure rewards and the
character should be awarded for their in-game actions. remaining 25% from discovery/adversity rewards.
For a faster or slower leveling experience, raise or lower

Discovery & Adversity XP

the default XP rewards for each Challenge Level. You may
also consider changing the 75%/25% ratios of XP if your
Discovery and adversity rewards depend on two main game is less focused on treasure hunts.
factors: the Challenge Level of the area, and the Relative
Difficulty experienced by the party. Follow the three steps When choosing the Relative Difficulty, refer to the
below to determine the XP reward. number of resources the party spent in the process. Hit
points, hit dice, spell slots, valuable items, wealth—the
Step 1. Challenge Level (CL) more resources lost, the higher the relative difficulty.
First, you must decide the Challenge Level—this is the
minimum level characters are expected to be in this Step 3. Calculate XP
particular area or adventure. A higher CL implies more Once you know the Challenge Level and the Relative
dangerous monsters, traps, and challenges. Difficulty, you can calculate the experience gained as:
Most civilised areas—villages, towns, and cities—will
be CL0. It's no challenge to live in a sanctuary. Character XP: Challenge Level x Relative Difficulty
Party XP: Character XP x Party Size
XP per Challenge Level
CL XP CL XP CL XP Listed below are some examples to demonstrate this in
0 1 7 23 14 238 action. First, we see Chansi use her lockpicking skills to
avoid a potentially lethal fight.
1 3 8 32 15 333
2 4 9 44 16 467
Chansi is currently exploring the Vault of Sorrow, an
3 6 10 62 17 653 area designed for level 3 characters. To hide from a
4 8 11 87 18 915 patrol of skeletons, she quietly unpicks a locked door
5 12 12 122 19 1,280 and slips out of sight—avoiding a dangerous fight.
6 16 13 170 20 1,790 The DM decides to award her some adversity XP for
the effort. As the CL is 3 (6 XP) and the lock was of
The Challenge Level should be straightforward to normal (x1) difficulty, Chansi receives 6 XP.
determine for the DM—base it on the average level of the
adventure or current area being explored. Next, Valiant and Clanda discover the entrance to a
secret dungeon they have long been searching for—the
Step 2. Relative Difficulty (RD) Shattered Underhall—and survive a battle against its
Next, choose the Relative Difficulty—this describes how dangerous guardians.
dangerous or difficult the event was for the party. Did
they lose precious resources, or barely break a sweat?
A challenge is more rewarding the harder it is to Following a map through the Nightless Forest, a
overcome—trivial encounters are not rewarding at all. dangerous area for level 5 characters, Valiant and
Clanda finally uncover a long-hidden entrance to the
Relative Difficulty Modifiers Shattered Underhall.
The DM awards some discovery XP. As the CL is 5
Difficulty Modifier Description
(12 XP) and they had a hard (x2) time finding the
Trivial x0 The PCs were far overpowered
entrance, Valiant and Clanda each receive 24 XP.
Easy x 0.5 The task was no trouble at all
Later, deep within the Underhall, Valiant and Clanda
Normal x1 The task proved to be a minor fight a near-fatal battle against its guardians—the
inconvenience or obstacle
Court of Lies. Though victorious, they spent many
Hard x2 The party lost some precious
resources and had a hard time
resources and almost died in the process.
The DM awards some adversity XP for the battle.
Extreme x4 The party lost nearly all their
resources, or someone died The Shattered Underhall is CL 5 (12 XP) and they
Insane x8 The PCs were underpowered and
nearly died fighting an extreme (x4) battle against the
survived against all odds Court, so Valiant and Clanda each receive 48 XP.

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 Recovery XP Step 3. Calculate Treasure
Characters gain experience by recovering lost treasures Once you know the Challenge Level and Threat Rating,
and bringing them back to civilisation, gaining 10 XP per you can calculate the amount of treasure to be recovered
gp of treasure—precious gems, priceless art, rare jewelry. throughout the adventure:
The amount of treasure found on an adventure—be it
in a dungeon, a dragons horde, or a vampire's vault—
depends on two factors: the Challenge Level of the area, Treasure: Challenge Level x Threat Rating
and the Threat Rating of the treasure's guardians. Hoard: Individual Treasure x Party Size

Step 1. Challenge Level (CL) Listed below are some examples to demonstrate this in
First, determine the Challenge Level of the area—this action. First, we see an outline for a simple level 1
establishes the base amount of treasure (for one player) adventure—the Tomb of the Bone Prince.
that should be found throughout the adventure.
The DM is building an adventure for level 1 characters,
Treasure per Challenge Level with a CL of 1 (7 gp) and an average (x1) threat rating
CL GP CL GP CL GP —meaning that characters should each find around
0 0 7 56 14 592 7 gp of treasure in the adventure, not including any
1 7 8 78 15 828 random silver or gold.
The DM scatters the treasure across 7 encounters:
2 10 9 110 16 1,160
3 15 10 154 17 1,624 1. Encounter: The Bone Sentinels.
4 20 11 215 18 2,274 2. Encounter: The False Prince. Rewards a 1 gp
5 28 12 302 19 3,185 treasure per person (some carved bone dice).
6 40 13 422 20 4,456 3. Challenge: A secret passageway to the undertomb.
4. Encounter: Madrigor, the Blind Cleric. Rewards a 1
The higher the CL, the bigger the danger—but the more gp treasure per person (a golden chalice).
treasure you are likely to find. 5. Challenge: A collapsing ceiling and a locked door.
6. Encounter: The Bone Prince and his Retinue.
Step 2. Threat Rating (TR)
7. Encounter: The Amalgam King. Rewards a treasure
Next, determine the Threat Rating of the treasure's
guardians. If there's no threat, there's no treasure— hoard worth 5 gp per person (well-cut rubies).
someone else will have looted it long before you arrive.
Here, we see Valiant and Chansi return to town from a
Threat Ratings recent adventure with some recovered treasure in hand.
Threat Modifier Description
After a brief expedition into the Rat's Nest, Chansi
None x0 A handful of weak opponents
returns to Darrowmore carrying a jade figurine she
Low x 0.5 A band of badly organised foes reckons is worth 12 gp. She sells it to a local collector,
Average x1 A small force with one or more exchanging the figurine for 12 gp and 120 XP.
notable leaders
Valiant also found treasure during the expedition—
High x2 A well-armed force with several a rare book of holy scripture worth 12 gp. He donates
tiers of leadership
the book to his local church, gaining 0 gp and 120 XP.
Extreme x4 A large force with formidable
strength and influence
The experience gained from any treasure returned to
Legendary x8 A legendary monster such as a civilisation is split equally across everyone who helped
dragon, a beholder, or a lich.
obtain it. This include helpers, followers, and henchmen.
Stealing or hiding treasure from the rest of the party
You'll need to find and face the biggest threats if you won't grant you any additional XP—once you exchange it
want to recover the rarest treasures—so be brave. for XP, everyone gets an equal cut.
Magic Items & Gold While the group wasn't looking, Clanda palmed an
extra ruby from the treasure pile. On returning to
Magic items and currency (copper, silver, or gold pieces) do
not count as treasure, so don't include their value in your town, she sells it to gain 7 gp and 70 XP. Clanda keeps
treasure-to-XP calculations. the gold but shares the XP with the rest of the party.

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 17

Dangerous Magic

M rewrite fundamental laws of reality—turn ice

into fire, restore life to the dead, teleport across
great distances in a heartbeat. Magic can grant
unimaginable power, but is not without risk even too the
2. You Suffer a Consequence
If your spell is 1st-level or higher, roll a d100 and check
the Burnout Consequences table to see what effect your
burnout has. Consequences become increasingly more
well-trained and experienced—channeling such raw severe the higher your spell level, so beware.
energies can be dangerous to the unprepared.
This chapter introduces rules to make magic a little
more dangerous and unpredictable for spellcasters. Clanda: Ok, these myconids are really starting to
annoy me now. Good thing I've been saving this

Burnout Fireball for a special occasion...

DM: As you channel your arcane power, you feel the
Sometimes, the flow of magic goes against you. It's hard weave pulling away. Roll your Burnout die, Clanda.
to shape, it's too chaotic, it's too powerful—whatever the Clanda: Easy, still on a fresh d12... (rolls 1) or not,
reason, some magic energy lashes out during your damn. So a 3rd-level burnout with a... (rolls 46) hurt
spellcasting attempt and causes you some harm. consequence.
This is called burnout and it can happen to any caster,
whether arcane or divine. Magic is dangerous work, and DM: Some of the raw arcane energy arcs lances out
the slightest distraction can be catastrophic. from your spell. Shrink your burnout die one step to
d10 and take 6 hit points of damage.
Triggering Burnout Clanda: Fine. I'll channel that anger back into the
spell—these myconids are going to burn.
If you are a spellcaster, take a d12—this is your Burnout
die. Whenever you attempt to cast a magic spell, roll the
Burnout die; on a 1 or 2, the power is overwhelming and If a consequence doesn't fully apply to you, or doesn't
you trigger a burnout event—two things happen to you: make sense for the situation, pick one that does.
Alternatively, the DM may—at their discretion—pick a
1. Your Burnout Die gets Smaller consequence specifically for you.
Your burnout die starts as a d12, but each time you suffer
burnout the die becomes one size smaller. Burnout is not a Failure
Suffering burnout doesn't mean your spellcasting failed—it
1d12 → 1d10 → 1d8 → 1d6 → 1d4 just means you were hurt somehow during the attempt.
Roll to attack and resolve any hits or misses as per normal
As your die shrinks it becomes increasingly more likely for your magic spell—apply your burnout consequences
that you will trigger further burnout—so be careful. after you've finished resolving your spell effects.

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 Burnout Consequences
d100 Consequence d100 Consequence
1-5 Drained: Lose (spell level) hit dice. 95 Gifted: Regain this spell slot.
6-15 Reduced: Lose (spell level / 2) hit dice. 96 Renewed: Regain (spell level) hit dice.
16-40 Shocked: Lose (spell level x 4) hit points. 97 Healed: Gain (spell level x 4) hit points.
41-88 Hurt: Lose (spell level x 2) hit points. 98 Protected: Gain (spell level x 4) temporary hit points.
89-93 Blackout: Disadvantage on casting for (spell level) rounds. 99 Energised: Advantage on casting for (spell level) rounds.
94 Immolated: Shrink the burnout die to d4. 100 Restored: Reset the burnout die to d12.

Roll Once per Spell Safe Magic

Not all magical abilities put your body at harm's risk—
You only roll the Burnout die once per spell, regardless of
the number of spell targets. Burnout is also unaffected by
these innate or controlled safe magics don't require a
any advantage/disadvantage you may have on your action. burnout roll when used:
• Class Features: Effects gained through certain class
Recovering from Burnout features—such as Channel Divinity and Lay on Hands.
• Racial Features: Spells gained through a racial ability
Once a burnout die shrinks, it remains that size until you —such as the tiefling's Infernal Legacy.
take a recovery action. There are three primary means of • Magic Items: These channel their own energies.
recovering from burnout: • Rituals: A ritual safely controls the flow of magical
energy with complicated sigils and glyphs.
1. Spend a hit die: You can spend a hit die during a
short rest to grow your burnout die by one step. You Why Did I Burn Out?
don't gain any healing from hit die spent in this way.
2. Get a good sleep: If you get a good night's sleep, your Magic is a fickle thing, even in the hands of the well-
burnout die grows by one step. Sleeping in a place of trained. If you want an explanation for your burnout, roll
magical power (such as an arcane leyline or divine a d20 and check the Burnout Reasons table below—or
temple) may increase your die by larger amounts. choose your own reason if you prefer.
3. Take a long rest: Once you complete a long rest, your
burnout die is fully restored to d12. Burnout Reasons
Mana Potions d20 Reason
If your campaign setting allows it, you might be able to 1 You mispronounced a key syllable.
find, buy, and consume mana potions to help restore
some of your magical burnout. 2 You said the words in the wrong order.
These potions come in a variety of qualities—the 3 You sneezed.
better the potion, the more burnout you restore. 4 You wrote a glyph incorrectly.
5 You used a low quality spell component.
Mana Potion 6 You didn't move your hands in the proper motion.
Item, Potion, Consumable
7 You got distracted by a sudden movement.
This blue potion glows with a faint light when shaken 8 The weave is wild and unpredictable.
and feels strangely cold to the touch. It tastes of 9 Your god is angry with you.
lemon and licorice. 10 Your god gave you too much power at once.
You recover some magical burnout when you drink 11 Your god is busy with celestial matters.
this potion—the better the quality, the more burnout 12 An opposing god is interfering with the power.
you are able to restore. 13 A nearby ley-line is warping the flow of magic.
14 Another caster is disrupting your control.
Qualities
15 Your patron is testing you.
Type Rarity Recovery Cost 16 Your patron wants your attention.
Lesser Common +1 size 25 gp 17 Your patron doesn't understand your mortal frailty.
Greater Uncommon +2 size 75 gp 18 The winds of magic are against you.
Superior Rare +3 size 225 gp 19 A magic item you are wearing reacts badly.
Supreme Very rare +4 size 675 gp 20 Magical energy is scarce in this region.

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 Burnout Die Size Limits Here we see Clanda approach a vortex of wild magic,
making her more likely to burnout when spellcasting.
Your burnout die cannot grow larger than a d12 or smaller
than a d4—regardless of modifiers, effects, or consumables.
DM: As you approach the arcane portal, Clanda, you
can feel raw magical energies pouring through it. The

Regional Magic
sensation is almost overwhelming as waves of chaotic
energy rush past you.
Magical power is not equal in all places. Perhaps you're Clanda: I don't like the look of this... I'll try casting
in a temple or a wizard's tower, where the flow of magic Dispel Magic on that portal.
has been tamed? Or you're near an arcane vortex or an Chansi: How close are you to burning out?
elemental gate, where magic is wild and hard to control? Clanda: Should be rolling d10, but all this chaotic
These environmental effects can impact your ability to magic pushes it down three sizes to d4. 50% chance
spellcast and change how likely you are to suffer
burnout. to burnout—could hurt...
At the DM's discretion, add a regional modifier (-3 to
+3) to the size of your normal burnout die. Grow the die Themed Locations
to prevent burnout, and shrink it to encourage burnout.
You can limit a regional burnout modifier to a specific
Regional Modifiers type of magic. Perhaps the wizard's tower grants a +1
modifier to only arcane magic, while the abyssal temple
Modifier Severity Description grants a -2 modifier to only divine magic?
+3 Serene The flow of magic is abundant, Use modifiers to add some flavour to key or iconic
predicable, and easy to harness. locations, but try not to go overboard—regional modifiers
should be uncommon, and casters should generally have
+2 Calm The flow of magic is rich.
a chance to research this information beforehand.
+1 Stable The flow of magic is reliable.
+0 Normal —
DM: As you enter the school, Clanda, you feel an
-1 Unstable The flow of magic is erratic.
immediate shift in the weave. Many decades of
-2 Wild The flow of magic is intense and hard teaching Evocation magic here has warped and shaped
to control or shape.
the flow of power unnaturally.
-3 Chaotic The flow of magic is raw,
unpredictable, and dangerous. Clanda: Making it easier to cast Evocation spells?
DM: Exactly. The flow is serene (+3) for Evocation
These regional effects can be as small or as large as you magic, but wild (-2) for all other magic types.
like—a few feet, a room, a building, a few miles, a
kingdom, or even a whole continent.
Custom Consequences
DM: Pushing through the thick wood, you see an old Burnout consequences can come in many different
stone building with a ruined spire in the distance. You forms, and—depending on your game—you may wish to
feel the calming power of holy ground. customise the Burnout Consequences table to make
Valiant: Finally, Unity Spire. I'll let Viridian know I've
burnout more severe or less punishing.
If your game features the Stress rules, Survival
found it with a Sending spell. Conditions rules, and Wear & Tear rules, consider using
DM: Ok, make your burnout check. the variant table below. These consequences create a
Valiant: No problem. Should be rolling d8, but this very different tone and focus on hurting your stress, your
calm power pushes it back up two sizes to d12. Great. equipment, and your supplies—the bigger the spell, the
bigger the damage inflicted.

Variant Burnout Consequences

d100 Minor (SL 1-2) Moderate (SL 3-4) Major (SL 5-6) Monstrous (SL 7-9)
01-45 Gain minor Stress Gain moderate Stress Gain major Stress Gain monstrous Stress
46-70 An item gains 1 notch An item gains 2 notches An item gains 4 notches An item gains 8 notches
71-80 Gain 1 hunger Gain 2 hunger Gain 4 hunger Gain 6 hunger
81-90 Gain 1 thirst Gain 2 thirst Gain 4 thirst Gain 6 thirst
91-00 Gain 1 fatigue Gain 2 fatigue Gain 4 fatigue Gain 6 fatigue

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 18

Making a Journey

T is rarely straightforward outside city walls. Many

adventurers have lost their way in dark forests.
Many more have died from lack of food, or water,
or protection from bandits and monsters—the world is
Travelling at Night
This chapter assumes you will be making a standard journey
during the day. On rare occasions, however, you might want
to travel in the dead of night.
not forgiving to the unprepared traveler. When travelling at night, use the same process described
This chapter introduces the journey phase to make in this chapter but simply shift the phase of the day
travel a more integral part of the adventure. accordingly to suit your schedule. Keep in mind that some
checks might be much more difficult at night.

The Journey Phase Step 2: Travel

If you wish to make a long journey, there are three basic Now it's time to gather everyone and head out on your
steps to follow: plan your route and gather supplies, journey. The average day is broken up into six parts—
travel the distance, and arrive at your destination. dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk, and night—so run
through these in sequence for each day of travel.
Step 1: Plan Dawn
The first step in making a long journey is planning—you Sunlight crests the horizon. It's time to wake up, eat
need to decide where you're going, how you're getting some breakfast to prepare for the day ahead, and pack
there, and who you're travelling with. up camp.
1. Pick the destination: First, pick your destination. • Check the weather: The weather can have a drastic
This could be a dungeon, city, or other landmark. impact on your travel plans, especially if you're not
2. Choose your route: Next, you need to decide which prepared. You may want to avoid travel completely
route you'll take. The length of your route is measured during heavy rains, storms, and snows.
not in miles but in days (assuming an average walking • Assign roles: Decide who is going to be today's guide,
speed of 15 miles per day). forager, scout, and lookout. A character can only
3. Gather supplies: Finally, gather any supplies, assume one role at a time, so pick wisely.
vehicles, and equipment needed for the journey. • Set pace: Decide what pace you'll be travelling at
today—slow, medium, or fast. A slower pace makes it
easier to succeed at your roles, but also means that
Valiant, Chansi, and Clanda are trying to reach Westwall the journey takes longer to complete.
Tower. That's about 45 miles away, so the journey • Eat breakfast: Eat some food and drink some water
should take roughly 3 days at a normal walking pace— to build up your energy for the travel ahead.
assuming fair weather and no surprises. • Pack up camp: Put out any cooking fires, strap on
your gear, and pack up your camp.
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Morning Step 3: Arrive
The sun rises and the day becomes warmer. Begin the After enough days of travel have passed—and assuming
first half of today's travelling. you didn't lose your way—you'll arrive at your destination.
Noon Variant: Stress
The sun is at its peak. Take a short break, sit in the If you are using the Stress rules, check the Journey
shade, and rest your feet. Arrival table to see how much Stress you heal upon
reaching your destination.
Afternoon
The sun descends and the temperature cools. Press on Journey Arrival
to finish the second half of today's travel while you still
have some natural light. Travel Time Stress Travel Time Stress
Up to 1 day -1 Up to 1 month -4 (1d6)
Dusk
The sun sinks beneath the horizon and the sky darkens. Up to 1 week -2 (1d4) Up to 1 year -8 (1d6 + 4)
It's time to set up camp for the night, eat, and reflect on
today's travel.
After 5 days of travel—a sudden and fierce
• Make camp: Take off your gear and set up camp. thunderstorm forcing them to lose 2 days progress—
• Lookout duty: The lookout takes charge of camp Valiant, Chansi, and Clanda finally make it to Westwall
defence and security for the night. While on lookout, a Tower. Relieved, they each restore 2 points of Stress.
character can only eat and sleep—they don't have time
to do or join in with anything else.
• Guide: The guide makes a guidance check to see if
you managed to stay on the right path.
• Forage: The forager makes a foraging check to see if
Roles
they gathered any food or water supplies throughout There are four core responsibilities when travelling:
the day's travel. guide, forager, scout, and lookout. A person can only lead
• Eat dinner: Eat some food and drink some water. or assist one role per day if they wish, and any role not
taken will automatically fail any related rolls.
Night A role can have only one leader, but any number of
The night is dark and full of terrors, an unwelcoming to helpers. The leader makes the roll, the first helper grants
travellers. Travel is very difficult and it's easy to get lost, advantage, and subsequent helpers grant a +1 bonus.
so get some sleep and recover your energy for tomorrow.
The Guide
Waking on the second day of their journey, Valiant, The guide makes sure everyone is heading in the right
Chansi, and Clanda assign roles as they eat: Valiant to direction. If the guide fails, you'll get lost and the journey
guide, Chansi to scout, and Clanda to keep lookout at will take longer.
night. They don't appoint a forager, but that's fine— If you are the guide, roll Intelligence on the Guidance
there's enough rations for a couple of days yet. table at the end of the day to see if you were able to stay
on track. Cartography tools, maps, and the Survival skill
The morning is uneventful, and at noon they stop will help you be a better guide.
for a short rest and a small drink—it's becoming very Success: The party is on track. Subtract today's
warm now thanks to a cloudless sky. progress from the remaining travel time.
During the afternoon, they find an old peddler Failure: You veered off course and lost your way. Add
sitting on the side of the road—he's suffering from 0.5 day to the remaining travel time.
some mild heatstroke. Chansi offers him some water
—the peddler gratefully gives them a freshly caught Guidance
rabbit in exchange—and they continue on. DC Terrain
As dusk settles, they set up camp for the night. 5 Wide open plains; Clear landmarks; Obvious pathway.
Clanda prepares a few Alarm spells around the 10 Tall landmarks; Small hills.
perimeter, Chansi cooks the rabbit meat for everyone 15 Light rain or mist; Woods and hills.
to eat, and Valiant checks their progress on his map.
20 Moonlight night; Heavy rain or mist; Forest with no
Everything seems on track. clear pathway or markings.
Tomorrow they might have to think about foraging 25 Fog; Thick and obscure forest; Mountains.
for fresh water to top up their supplies—especially if 30 Clouded night; Impossibly thick fog; A shifting maze;
it's as warm as today was. Magically treacherous terrain.

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 The Forager The Lookout
The forager finds food and water for the travelling party. The lookout protects the camp at night. If the lookout
If the forager fails, you'll run out of essential supplies fails, you risk being attacked while you sleep.
long before the journey reaches its destination—so make If you are the lookout, you're responsible for making
sure to pack plentiful supplies before you embark if you perception checks during the night to spot incoming
don't have a skilled forager. threats—the DM will notify you of anything worth rolling
If you are the forager, roll Wisdom on the Foraging for. The lookout cannot join in any camp activities
table at the end of the day to see how much food and beyond eating and sleeping, so make sure that whoever
water you were able to hunt throughout the day. Hunting takes the lookout shift won't be needed for anything else.
equipment and the Survival skill will help you forage. You can set traps and alarms around the camp—dry
Success: You recover 2d4 rations-worth of food and twigs, tripwires, the Alarm ritual—to help you detect
water—you can divide this however you like. intruders a little better.
Failure: You were unable to find anything. Success: You were able to rouse the party in time to
prevent being ambushed.
Foraging Failure: You failed to spot the danger in time and the
party are surprised.
DC Terrain
5 Lush and verdant forest; Food and water are
everywhere. Travelling Pace
10 Forest; Coast; Abundant food and clean water.
The speed at which you travel can have an significant
15 Thin woodland and greenwood. Food must be actively impact on your role. There are three main paces: slow,
hunted and water is harder to find. normal, and fast. Check the Travelling Pace table to see
20 Dry, open plains; Very little food or clean water. exactly how you're affected by the pace you choose.
25 Desert and barren or polluted land; Food is extremely
rare and water may need treatment. Walking
30 Toxic or corrupted deadlands; Food is inedible and The average character has a walking speed of about 3
water sources are poisoned.
miles per hour, and can travel—comfortably—around 15
miles per day. This takes into account the many rest
breaks, pauses, and distractions a character will need
DM: Chansi, roll a Foraging check to see if you found during the day—especially those that carry heavy gear
anything. You're in thin woodland, so it's DC 15. and armor. Walking long-distance is surprisingly hard
Chansi: Ok... (rolls 18) perfect. Today I found... (rolls work, and a long march in full plate armor is a sure way
4) 4 supplies. We're a bit low on water right now, so to strain muscles and hurt yourself.
let's say I found 3 water rations and 1 food ration.
Horseback
The Scout The average horse walks at much the same pace as a
character: 3 miles per hour. While they can gallop much
The scout ranges ahead during the day's travel and keeps faster, they can only do so on flat ground for very short
an eye out for dangers. If the scout fails, you may be periods—horses overheat very quickly.
ambushed by enemies and other hazards. On horseback, a character can comfortably travel 20
If you are the scout, you're responsible for making any miles per day without injuring the horse or becoming too
perception checks during the day to spot incoming risks saddle-sore. Anything more arduous requires knowledge
and dangers—the DM will notify you of anything worth and experience of Animal Handling.
rolling for. A spyglass will help you scout better. The main benefit of travelling on horseback is the
Success: You noticed the threat and were able to carrying capacity—a horse can carry much more than a
warn the party in time. You have a chance to avoid the character for much longer without complaint. Horses
threat entirely, or encounter it at your own pace. need plenty to eat and drink, however—2 food and water
Failure: You failed to spot the danger in time and the rations a day—so make sure you bring enough supplies
party are surprised. to keep your animals in good shape.

Travelling Pace
Travel Pace Speed Distance Guide Forage Scout Hide Tracks
Slow 0.6 days 10 miles Advantage Normal Advantage Advantage

Medium 1 day 15 miles Normal Disadvantage Normal Normal

Fast 1.4 days 20 miles Disadvantage None Disadvantage Disadvantage

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 Encounters Step 3: Generate Encounters
Now it's time to generate specific encounters. There are
During a journey, the DM is responsible for generating four broad categories of encounter: character, social,
any potential encounters and discoveries the party may skill, and combat. Pick a variety, or roll on the Encounter
face on the way. For each day of travel, do the following: Type table to choose one at random.
Character: One of the party members gets a moment
1. Decide the danger level: Choose how dangerous to shine. Ask a question about their character—if the
today's journey will be. This determines how many answer is interesting or adds something to the world (or
encounters the party are likely to face during travel. the player is at least trying), they gain Inspiration.
2. Set the encounter times: Decide when each
encounter will happen during the day.
3. Generate the encounters: Build the encounters using DM: While you're all travelling in the afternoon,
your own encounter generators. conversation turns to family. Clanda, tell us a good
4. Roll for any discoveries: See if the party will spot memory you have of your parents.
anything unexpected on their travel, like a hidden cave
or a secret chest.
Social: The party meets one or more people that they
Step 1: Danger Level can talk or engage with—a wandering merchant, a troupe
of entertainers, a hostile soldier.
First, check the Terrain Danger table to determine the Skill: An obstacle hinders the party that must be
danger level of the surrounding terrain. This indicates overcome through use of their skills—a wheel breaks on
how many encounters a party is likely to face today—the their wagon, a wounded person lies unconscious beside
greater the danger, the more encounters. the path, they anger a nest of wasps.
Combat: Enemies attack the party, forcing them to
Terrain Danger Level flee or defend themselves—a group of bandits, a wild
pack of wolves, a hungry dragon.
Danger Encounters
Safe and civilised; A village, a barren desert, a 1 Encounter Type
well-defended plain.
d6 Type
Dangerous frontier; A wild forest, a 2
treacherous swamp, a disturbed graveyard. 1 Character: Ask a player an interesting or fun question
Enemy territory; A monster's lair, an enemy 3 about their character.
camp, a haunted wood. 2 Social (Friendly): A pleasant encounter with some
Heavily populated hostile territory; An enemy 4 friendly NPCs.
settlement, a mind-flayer city, a kobold nest. 3 Social (Hostile): Some NPCs are hostile to the party
Lethal and actively hunted; A plane of 5 and could lead to harm.
madness, a god's domain, a layer of hell.
4 Skill Challenge: Something happens that requires
multiple skill checks to overcome.
Characters can learn about the danger level of a region
through research to help inform their journey plans— 5 Combat (Non-committal): The party is attacked, but
the enemies will flee easily.
gathering rumors, reading histories, collecting maps.
6 Combat (Aggressive): The party is attacked and the
enemies will fight to near death.
Step 2: Encounter Times
Second, you need to see when exactly the party might Once you know the type of the encounter, generate the
have an encounter today. Roll 1d6 for each of the six exact details using your preferred encounter tables.
phases of the day: dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk,
and night. If the number is equal to or lower than the Step 4: Generate a Discovery
danger level, there is a chance of an encounter.
Finally, roll a d6 to see if the party spot something
interesting that might be worth investigating further.
The party are passing through a shrouded wood with a
danger level of 2. The DM secretly rolls 6d6 and Discoveries
generates a result of [2, 6, 2, 3, 6, 1]—the party will
d6 Result
encounter something at dawn, noon, and night.
1-4 Nothing

Alternatively, if you do not have access to dice, take the 5 Spot a discovery in the morning.
average number of encounters listed in the Danger Level
table and decide for yourself when the encounters occur. 6 Spot a discovery in the afternoon.

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 Encounter Seeds Character Encounters (cont)
d100 Encounter
If you're unsure what to do for an encounter, try using 83-84 Who was your first kiss?
these encounter seeds to kickstart some ideas. 85-86 Why are you with the party?
87-88 Why would the party fall apart without you?
Character Encounters
89-90 Your favourite story
d100 Encounter
91-92 Your favourite thing about your hometown
01-02 A bad memory of your family
93-94 Your favourite way to relax
03-04 A good memory of your family
95-96 Your greatest achievement
05-06 A faction you strongly agree with
97-98 Your greatest fear
07-08 A faction you strongly disagree with
99-00 Your last nightmare
09-10 A game you like to play
11-12 A happy moment from your childhood
Friendly Social Encounters
13-14 A monster you don't believe is real
15-16 A person you are afraid of d100 Encounter

17-18 A person you couldn't save 01-05 A wandering peddler offers you a look at his wares

19-20 A person you hate 06-10 An old cleric is repairing a small shrine recently
damaged by someone or something
21-22 A person you love
11-15 A wandering bard shares stories about the locals
23-24 A person you respect
16-20 A drunken giant is trying to mend a bridge he has
25-26 A person you want to meet broken, but is having trouble with the work
27-28 A place you would love to visit 21-25 An old woman needs your help to get an unusual
29-30 A sad moment from your childhood pet down from a tree

31-32 A time you embarrassed yourself 26-30 A naked bard asks you for some spare clothes

33-34 A time you got away with something 31-35 You find someone passed out and wounded

35-36 A time you got a sibling into trouble 36-40 Two drunk goliaths are wrestling any challengers

37-38 A time you got really drunk 41-45 A wizard asks if you can help him test a new spell

39-40 A time you hurt someone 46-50 Two groups of people need your help to settle a bet

41-42 A time you made something 51-55 You find a small child, lost and alone

43-44 A time you were afraid 56-60 Three dwarves challenge the biggest party member
to a drinking competition
45-46 A time you were heroic
61-65 Two clerics are arguing about who is the best god
47-48 A time you were powerless
66-70 A hungry beggar offers you a secret for some food
49-50 A time you were proud of someone
71-75 A guard is training some new recruits and asks you
51-52 A time you were smarter than everyone else to help demonstrate a few moves
53-54 Are you a dog person or a cat person? 76-80 A dying man asks you to help end his pain
55-56 Are you closer to your mother or your father? 81-85 A silent monk offers you some food for a story
57-58 Food that you think is disgusting 86-90 A bard is trying to write a song but is having trouble
59-60 Something that happened on your last birthday with the words and asks you for advice
91-95 A wagon has overturned and the owner needs help
61-62 Something you are ashamed of
96-00 A kobold challenges you to a game of riddles
63-64 Something you are proud of doing
65-66 Something you would love to do
67-68 The best dinner you've ever had Hostile Social Encounters
69-70 The best gift you ever received d100 Encounter
71-72 The funniest thing you've ever seen 01-05 A group of racist thugs has an issue with one of
73-74 What are you looking forward to? your party members because of their appearance

75-76 What would you do if you were king? 06-10 Three guards call you to halt, holding a wanted
poster that looks a lot like one of your party
77-78 What would you do with a million gold pieces?
11-15 Some highwaymen demand your money or your life
79-80 Where are your family now?
16-20 Two groups of people are brawling near an
81-82 Who or what would you die for? overturned cart, each blaming the other

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 Hostile Social Encounters (cont) Discoveries
d100 Encounter d100 Discovery
21-25 A giant blocks your path with a makeshift toll gate, 01-02 An old and ruined tower
demanding an unusual payment
03-04 A burned out home
26-30 A group of drunk soldiers approach and demand
05-06 A howling cavern
you offer some tribute to the king's men
07-08 A small, tightly locked chest
31-35 A person is tied to a stake and surrounded by a
silent mob holding torches, led by a fierce cleric 09-10 A statue of a good deity
36-40 A loud zealot preaching to a mob accuses you of 11-12 A statue of an evil deity
dark heresy against their god 13-14 A circle of stone pillars
41-45 A barbarian, delirious with a berserker rage, thinks 15-16 A giant tree with far-reaching roots
you are a foul monster to kill
17-18 A ruined temple to an unknown god
46-50 A petty nobleman accuses you of not showing the
proper due respect and demands satisfaction 19-20 A cracked, stone fountain filled with a green ooze
51-55 You stumble across a dead body and a person 21-22 A strange pillar carved with bloody runes
holding a bloody knife, who says "It wasn't me!" 23-24 A strange, twisted tree
56-60 Someone fleeing from a dozen pursuers begs you 25-26 An abandoned wagon and the signs of battle
for protection against harm
27-28 A small, unlocked hut with a warm hearth
61-65 An old woman with a knife and foul breath asks you
to pay tribute to her god 29-30 A locked door in the side of a hill
66-70 Three men eating around a campfire offer you some 31-32 A chilling cemetery
food, but it's not animal meat they're cooking... 33-34 A locked door in the side of a hill
71-75 A ghost stands in the middle of the road, wailing 35-36 An abandoned ruin of a castle
76-80 A group of hooded cultists emerge, loudly 37-38 A wrecked, half-buried pirate ship
proclaiming that you are the chosen one
39-40 A set of steps leading down into a crypt
81-85 A bard is playing beautiful music to a crowd, but all
who listen are quickly under her thrall 41-42 A strange plant with an alluring scent

86-90 A wild sorcerer seeks to test a spell on you 43-44 A rusted cauldron still warm to the touch

91-95 A paladin accuses you of performing evil acts and 45-46 A tiny door in the foot of a tree
demands you pay for your sins with blood 47-48 A beautiful glade with delicious-looking fruit
96-00 A furious druid has someone trapped in vines and 49-50 A sealed, metal coffin
intends to kill them for desecrating the grove
51-52 A twisted pillar with an evil, carved face
53-54 A book on a bloody altar
Skill Challenges 55-56 A sword impaled in a monstrous stone statue
d100 Skill Challenge 57-58 A map pinned to a tree with a black knife
01-10 A broken wagon blocks the way and must be 59-60 A blood-red stone embedded in a twisted tree
repaired, overturned, or bypassed
61-62 A skeleton holding a small, red book
11-20 A rowdy mob that must be calmed or evaded 63-64 A hole in the ground where singing can be heard
before they turn on you or some other victim
65-66 A monument to an ancient battle
21-30 An overwhelmingly large pack of hungry, wild
animals that must be outrun 67-68 A giant skeleton of a long-dead gargantuan creature
31-40 There is an unfamiliar split in the path and the 69-70 A boarded-up house with ghostly wails
correct direction must be determined 71-72 A stone archway covered in eldritch runes
41-50 A glade of flesh-eating plants that must be escaped 73-74 A pool of sweet, red water
before they can paralyze you
75-76 A glade of trees that ooze black sap
51-60 A broken bridge across a ravine that must be fixed
or overcome to progress 77-78 A collection of life-like humanoid stone statues

61-70 A sudden, terrible storm that requires shelter to be 79-80 A secret wishing pool
found and constructed fast 81-82 A sleeping dragon
71-80 A band of highwaymen that must be intimidated or 83-84 A half-buried chest surrounded by skeletons
out-smarted before things turn ugly
85-86 7 rotating pillars of segmented red stone
81-90 A magical illusion blocks the way and must be
87-88 A tree that burns with unnatural green fire
disabled or bypassed to progress
89-90 The ruins of a magical experiment gone wrong
91-00 Recent weather has destroyed some notable
landmarks and the path must be rediscovered 91-00 Reroll

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 PART 4
Life & Death

19 Wounds & Injuries p57

p57
Gain lingering wounds and injuries at 0 hp.

20 Death & Resurrection p60

p60
Persistent death saves and revised resurrection.

21 Cheating Fate p62

p62
Cheat death with rare fate points.

22 Deadly Disease p63

p63
Plague your world with contagious diseases.

23 Survival Conditions p69

p69
Track hunger, thirst, and fatigue on your travels.

24 Stress & Afflictions p72

p72
Manage your mental stress levels.
 19

Wounds & Injuries

A good, very lucky, or very new to the profession—

trap-ridden dungeons, rabid monsters, and sharp
weapons are notoriously bad for your health.
Some adventurers are lucky enough to retire with just a
Lingering Wounds
When you fall to 0 hit points, you've taken significant
damage and gain an open, lingering wound somewhere
few injuries to show for their career. Many, however, die on your body. Roll on the Lingering Wounds table to see
from injury long before retirement. which part of you was wounded—or pick one based on
This chapter sets out options for character health, the type of damage you suffered.
lingering wounds, permanent injuries, and prosthetics.
Lingering Wounds
Bloodied d10 Area d10 Area
1 An arm 6 Your back
Your health is your most precious resource and, as an
adventurer, keeping hold of it is not an easy task. A 2 A leg 7 Your head
character is considered bloodied when they have lost 3 A hand 8 Your face
half of their hit points—when bloodied, they have taken a 4 A foot 9 Your chest
small cut or bruise.
Some monsters may react differently to you when you 5 Your stomach 10 Your buttocks
are bloodied—becoming frenzied or blood-thirsty—while
others may have an easier time detecting you by scent. DM: The orc's axe slashes you, Viridian, and you take
9 points of damage.
DM: The wolf bites you fiercely, Sarien, causing 7 Viridian: Urk, that's not good—I'm at 0 hit points.
points of damage. Before I black out, I notice... (rolls 9) blood dripping
Sarien: Gah, I'm bloodied now. from a wound to my chest. Great.
DM: With the scent of fresh blood in the air, all three Clanda: At least it wasn't your butt this time.
wolves turn and look at Sarien hungrily... Viridian: Yea. Lucky me.

Healing When Bloodied Exhaustion

If you are bloodied, it's a little harder to recover your Each time you gain an open wound, you also gain a level
stamina. While bloodied, you must use a bandage or of exhaustion. This exhaustion is permanent for as long
other first-aid material in order to spend any hit dice and as your wound is open and untreated.
recover hit points when resting. Make sure to keep an You gain exhaustion for each open wound, so watch
eye on your medical supplies. out—exhaustion effects stack up fast.
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 Exhaustion Effects DM: The werewolf's razor sharp claws slash at you
Level Effect Viridian with a critical hit—take 14 points of damage.
1 Disadvantage on Ability Checks Viridian: Ouch. Better check if my treated chest
2 Speed halved wound is ok... (rolls 1) damn it, it reopens and I lose a
3 Disadvantage on Attack rolls and Saving Throws
hit die. This hurts...
DM: Those claws have ripped open your bandages,
4 Hit point maximum halved
Viridian, and blood pours from your chest wound. You
5 Speed reduced to 0
start to feel exhausted again from the open wound.
6 Death
Viridian: Great. Can this day get any worse?
DM: The werewolf slashes at you again. Critical hit.
When Viridian gains his new chest wound, he also Viridian: ...
gains a level of exhaustion. After the battle, Chansi
patches him up and treats the wound to remove the Variant: Simple Wounds
exhaustion penalty.
If you want a quick way to make falling to 0 hit points
more significant, then use this Simple Wounds variant.
Treating Wounds When you fall to 0 hit points, gain a level of
exhaustion. This exhaustion can be removed in the
A wound hinders you while it's untreated, making life normal means (through rest/spells/etc).
difficult with exhaustion. You can treat a wound during a
short rest with first-aid knowledge and supplies—make a
first-aid check (DC 10) to patch up the wound.
A treated wound remains on your character—though it
Permanent Injuries
no longer causes exhaustion. A wound will only heal Some monsters are especially deadly, destructive, and
properly during a long rest or with magical healing. vicious—when they hit, they hit hard enough to break
bones and sever limbs. Dragons, giants, ogres—if it's
Healing Wounds huge, its attacks are usually extremely violent.
If you are reduced to 0 hit points by a violent attack,
Wounds heal naturally over time. At the end of a long you suffer a debilitating Permanent Injury. Roll to see
rest, you may check to see if each of your wounds will which injury you suffer—reroll any nonsensical result.
heal—make a DC 15 Constitution check for each wound.
Some downtime activities, such as resting, may allow Permanent Injuries
you to roll the check with advantage.
d10 Injury Treatment
Magical Healing 1 Lose an arm Prosthesis (arm)
You may use magical effects to heal a wound. You do not
gain any hit points from the magic in doing this, however 2 Lose a leg Prosthesis (leg)
—all of the spell's power is used on your wound. 3 Lose a hand Prosthesis (hand)
4 Lose a foot Prosthesis (foot)
Reopening Wounds 5 Lose an eye Prosthesis (eye)

If you are critically hit during combat, your treated 6 Lose a toe Medical aid (DC 15)
wounds may reopen. When taking critical damage, roll a 7 Lose a finger Medical aid (DC 15)
d20 for each treated wound you have: 8 Gain a horrific, scarring wound Medical aid (DC 20)
9 Gain an internal injury Medical aid (DC 20)
Reopened Wounds 10 Lose half your teeth Medical aid (DC 20)
d20 Effect
1 The wound reopens and you lose a hit die
When you gain an injury, you also gain a level of
exhaustion. As with lingering wounds, this exhaustion is
2-8 The wound reopens permanent until you treat the injury in some fashion.
9-20 The wound remains closed
Injury Effects
When a wound reopens, it starts applying exhaustion The exact consequences of an injury may vary wildly from
again—you'll need to treat the wound to remove this. game to game and character to character.
Any untreated wound fails automatically (as if you had If a character gains an injury, make sure to have a brief
rolled a 1), causing you to lose a hit die—so try to keep discussion between player and DM to establish any notable
your wounds bandaged at all times. in-game effects beyond the exhaustion increase.

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 DM: The violent dragon shows you no mercy, Sarien,
as it bites down. Sharp teeth spear into you painfully
Prosthetics
for 19 points of damage. A prosthesis is a device that replaces a missing body part
Sarien: Damn it, I'm at 0 hit points... (rolls 1). —such as an arm, leg, or eye—to treat an injury. You can
find—or commission—basic prosthetic devices in almost
DM: You hear a sickening snap as the dragon's teeth any settlement from appropriate craftsmen and healers.
bite into your shoulder, scraping bone. The pain is
overwhelming. As its huge head snaps back, you feel a False Leg
sharp pull and a hear a loud, wet tearing sound. Prosthesis, Leg (Medium), Common
Through the pain, you realise you can't move your left
arm. You can't even see your left arm. It's gone. A wooden leg with a secret compartment that can hold a
Sarien: What. The Hell. small item. Wearing this treats a missing leg injury.
DM: The last thing you see before you black out,
Sarien, is the dragon throw your arm up into the air Glass Eye
and—with a snap—swallow it. "Deliciousssss..." Prosthesis, Eye, Common

A glass orb made to look like a tabaxi eye. Wearing

Violent Monsters & Attacks this treats a missing eye injury.
When you are adding the vicious keyword to a monster
or attack, make sure to telegraph this to your players Magical Prosthetics
clearly in advance—they should know they risk serious
injury before they charge in. You may find prosthetics have been augmented with
magic in some fashion, granting them extra properties.
These are much rarer in the world—and far more
DM: You see the orc warlord ahead, yelling orders to expensive. This kind of prosthetic is often only gained
the goblin soldiers. He hasn't seen you yet, but he through a quest reward or a favour from a powerful NPC.
looks extremely vicious.
Krazak: Vicious? Sounds like a challenge. I charge— Arm of Living Bark
Valiant: NO YOU DON'T. Plan first, charge later—I'm Prosthesis, Arm (Medium), Rare
not paying to put another leg on you.
A prosthetic arm crafted from living wood. It has a
tendency to reach towards bright sunlight when the
Treating Injuries owner is not concentrating. Wearing this treats a
Once you gain an injury, it remains active on your missing arm injury.
character causing exhaustion until treated. There are Nature's Grasp: Once per short rest, you may use a
three main ways to treat an injury: free action to stretch out the vines in your arm and
• Prosthetics: Wear a prosthetic device to replace a extend your reach by 5ft until the end of your turn.
missing body part.
• Medical Aid: Receive medical attention—even surgery Foot of Cloud Walking
—to close up major damage and internal bleeding. Prosthesis, Foot (Medium), Rare
This can only be done during a long rest when you are
in a safe place—a village, town, or city. A prosthetic foot inscribed with an air enchantment.
• Magic: Injuries can be reversed with the Greater Wearing this treats a missing foot injury.
Restoration spell (or something of equivalent power). Cloudwalk: Once per short rest, you may jump
Once an injury has been treated, the exhaustion is lifted twice as far or twice as high as you normally would.
and your character can act normally again.
Hand of Static
Gameplay over Realism Prosthesis, Hand (Medium), Rare

Injuries should be important events, but they shouldn't make

A prosthetic hand inscribed with arcane glyphs and
a character unplayable forever. Use them to create short
bursts of drama in your game, but avoid penalising a sigils. Wearing this treats a missing hand injury.
character for too long. Static Shock: Once per short rest, when you make a
Once an injury is treated—whether by prosthesis, successful melee attack, you may use a free action to
surgery, or magic—don't apply any more penalties unless it's
especially relevant to the story. add 2d6 lightning damage to your damage.

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 20

Death & Resurrection

T
: Death Saving Throws
and taxes. Throughout their career, adventurers
face danger and destruction at every turn—and When you are dying, you must make a death saving
sometimes, not everyone is lucky enough to make throw at the start of your turn—if you fail three death
it back to town alive. saving throws, you die. Roll a d20 and check the table
This chapter sets out the Dying condition, persistent below to see what happens to you:
death saves, funerals, and revised rules for resurrection.
Death Saving Throw
Dying d20 Outcome
01 You fail two death saving throws.
In falling to 0 hit points, you gain the Dying condition.
This condition ends if you regain any hit points. 02-09 You fail one death saving throw.

10-19 No change.
Dying
Condition 20 You regain 1 hit point.

• You drop whatever you're holding and fall prone.

Persistent Saves
• You can't move, take actions, or use reactions.
Death saving throws don't reset after a short rest—
• You're aware of what's happening 15 ft around you. instead, you recover one failed death saving throw after
• You can speak a maximum of two words per round. completing a long rest. Take care to rest properly.
• Attack rolls against you have advantage.
• You automatically fail STR/DEX saving throws. Taking Damage
• You must make a death saving throw at the start of
If you are hit by any damaging attack whilst dying, you
your turn. If you fail three times, you die. automatically fail a death saving throw. Critical damage,
likewise, cause you to fail one death saving throw.
DM: The drow's hooked blade tears into you, Krazak,
If you take any damage whilst at 0 hit points and
stable, you regain the Dying condition.
dealing 13 points of slashing damage.
Krazak: Down to 0 hp—damn, I'm dying here.
Limited Awareness
DM: Ravna looms over you with a sadistic smile.
"Any last words, dwarf, before I send you to the grave?" Whilst dying, you have very limited awareness and capacity
to speak—you are too busy struggling to remain conscious.
Krazak: Screw. You. Choose your two words each round carefully, and avoid
DM: "Two words well spent," sneers Ravna. table-talk whenever possible.

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 Death A New Beginning
Once you've added your character's name to the
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, your best just isn't graveyard, it's time to start anew with a fresh character
good enough—all things come to an end, and your or an elevated NPC/henchman.
character is unfortunately no exception. There are a variety of ways to determine your starting
But with any luck, you fought a good fight and left the level and wealth—choose the method that fits your game.
world a little less dark than when you first joined it.
Starting Level
Your Funeral • Same Level: Start at the same level as your old character.
• One Behind: Start one level lower than your old character.
A corpse shouldn't be left out in the open to be torn apart • Accelerated 1st-Level: Start at level 1. You gain XP at
by birds and wild dogs—a hero deserves a hero's send-off. twice the normal rate until you catch up to the rest of
If your adventuring party are able to recover your the party.
body, bury it, and throw an appropriately lavish funeral,
they may buy a share of the unspent experience you had Starting Wealth
when you died—10 XP per gold spent on your funeral. • Inheritance: Inherit gold and starting items from your
old character—whatever was passed on in your will.
Your new character should be known or related to
Though victorious against the drow pirate Ravna your old character in some fashion.
Ry'len, Krazak suffered a mortal wound and died with • Fresh Start: Start with the same amount of gold and
460 unspent XP. magic items as the poorest active character.
The surviving party members carry his body back to
town, where they spend 46 gp on a lavish funeral—
plenty of beer, food, and fire. The next day, they each
Resurrection
take a share of Krazak's 460 XP. Sometimes, death is not the end. Magic is a powerful
force, and with it even the dead can rise again.
Such spells are not without cost, however, and
Variant: Milestones resurrection spells require the rarest of components—
If you are using a Milestone leveling system, then diamonds of a particular cut, rarity, and quality. These
consider this variant instead. diamonds cannot be bought on the open market—finding
If your adventuring party are able to recover your one may be a whole adventure in itself.
body, bury it, and throw an appropriately lavish funeral
(at least 50 gp for each of your character levels), they Resurrection Spells
each gain one favour from you from beyond the grave.
Spell Level Time Limit Component

Reading of the Will Revivify 3rd 1 minute Pristine diamond

You can leave a will behind to confirm who the heirs to Raise Dead 5th 10 days Royal diamond
your property are. This can be arranged in retrospect Reincarnate 5th 10 days Mystic oils
with your DM after the character's death if necessary. Resurrection 7th 100 years Perfect diamond
The reading of the will usually takes place at your
funeral, or before the introduction of a new character. True Resurrection 9th 200 years Astral diamond
This might be the last opportunity for your character
to say any final words, so make the most of it. Death has a price, however—a character that has been
dead for longer than a day will lose any unspent
DM: A gruff, dwarven priest approaches you all after
experience points when they are resurrected.
the funeral, bearing Krazak's last known will.
Clanda: A will? Let me see that. "In the unlikely event of Reincarnate
my death, I, Krazak the Undefeated, leave 50 gp to the The Reincarnate spell is unique in that it requires only
church to fix that damn leaky roof. Valiant, you need all mystic oils. Unlike rare diamonds, these oils can be
the help you can get: take my ring of protection. Viridian,
bought or crafted during downtime—at a significant cost.
you're weak as a kitten: take my amulet of health.
Everything else goes to my brother, Gundren." Variant: No Resurrections
Valiant: Krazak had a brother? Huh, he never said. If you want to add a sense of finality to death, use this No
What else does it say? Resurrections variant rule.
Clanda: "Kill Clanda".
The souls of the dead, once passed beyond the veil,
can never return to the mortal plane. Resurrection spells
Viridian: Ah Krazak, ever the charmer. of any kind—including wishes—have no effect.
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 21

Cheating Fate

E
, Spending Fate
adventurers manage to find a way to cheat fate
and live to fight another day. When you spend a fate point, you (usually) cannot act for
This chapter introduces fate points for players the rest of the scene—everyone, friend and foe alike,
and how to use them in your game. thinks you're dead or otherwise not worth any attention.
But you are immune to any further damage during the
rest of the scene, regardless of whatever else happens
Fate Points around your unconscious body.
At the end of the scene—or whenever appropriate—
Fate allows your character to survive what would you regain consciousness with 1 hit point. You also
otherwise be a certain death. If you would suffer a killing recover any failed death saving throws.
blow or fail your last death saving throw, you may instead
spend a fate point to cheat death in some fashion. Gaining Fate
Perhaps you were knocked unconscious, or the
scorpion's poison wasn't strong enough to finish you off, Fate points are extremely rare. New characters start with
or it was just a flesh wound? Discuss with your DM one fate point—their reward for becoming an adventurer
exactly how it is you managed to survive your ordeal. in the first place.
But beyond this, additional points can only be gained
DM: You lie unconscious and dying, Viridian, but the
by facing—and defeating—the most dangerous monsters
in your world. Dragons, liches, beholders—these fated
orc is without mercy—she stabs down with her spear. monsters are significant threats to the party.
Lose a death saving throw. Fate smiles on those who brave the darkest of these
Viridian: Oh no, that was my last one... optional dangers and survive.
Chansi: You're dead? For real?
Viridian: Yea—or I would be if I didn't have one last DM: You hear that the black dragon Kaladax has laid
fate point to use. Perhaps the spear missed me? waste to Merrowford and taken residence in the
DM: Fate is in your favour. The spear wouldn't miss wreckage of the town.
given its proximity, but let's say it missed your vital Clanda: Is he a fated dragon?
organs. Everyone thinks you're dead, and you remain DM: Kaladax is a major power, and certainly fated.
unconscious but alive for the rest of the scene. Viridian: Could be worth investigating—I don't like
Viridian: Unconscious and alive sounds good to me. being fate-less now, myself...

Fate points help to give your players a little more A fated monster rewards only 1 fate point in total when
durability. New characters begin with one fate point, and defeated—the players must decide who among them is
may hold no more than three at one time. lucky enough to take it.
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 22

Deadly Disease

T
, ,
filthy place. Monsters are not the only threat to
your survival—plague and disease stalk the land,
Contracting Disease
destroying villages and decimating cities. Adventuring is not a clean business. Filthy sewers, rabid
Sometimes the greatest threat isn't the wild dragon—it's animals, rusty swords—there are countless ways in
the small child with a bad cough. which a person might contract a debilitating disease.
This chapter provides rules on catching and treating There are three basic steps to follow when dealing
contagious diseases, and a selection to use in your game. with disease: contact, incubation, and first symptoms.

What is a Disease? Step 1. Contact

A disease is some form of ongoing sickness that causes First, your character needs to come into contact with an
harm to your character and, potentially, spreads to those active disease. There are four ways this might happen:
around you—such as flu, chickenpox, or plague.
Diseases become more severe over time, progressing • Direct Contact: You touch an infected person or
through 4 stages—so try to stay healthy. diseased fluid—such as blood, sweat, or pus.
• Indirect Contact: You touch something that has been
Influenza Touch, Air · DC 10
contaminated with a diseased substance or fluid—a
Disease, Common 2 days
doorknob, a shared bed, a knife.
• Bites: Something bites you—a fly, a tick, a leech—and
A harmless cough and a slight fever can quickly turn injects the disease directly into your body.
into something much more serious without bed rest. • Consumption: You eat or drink something that's been
contaminated—foul water, moldy bread, rotten meat.
Effects
Stage Effect DM: As you lean over the corpse to unclasp the
1 You have a bad headache and a runny nose. You
necklace, Viridian, the zombie's stomach bursts with a
have -2 INT, and -2 WIS. sickening pop. Roll a Dexterity saving throw.
2 Your entire body aches and your throat is sore. You Viridian: Son of a... (rolls 3) damn zombies.
have -2 STR, -2 DEX, and -2 CHA. DM: Black ichor and pus splatter you in thick, wet
3 You have a terrible fever and hallucinations. You clumps. You nearly gag from the smell of rotten flesh.
cannot move under your own power.
Viridian: Gross. This can't be good.
4 Your internal organs fail and, after slipping into a
coma, you die within a few hours.
Once your character has come into contact with a
Cured You have an annoying cough for one week and contagious disease, there is a chance of infection—the
occasional light-headedness.
incubation period automatically begins.
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 Step 2. Incubation Degrees of Success
All diseases have an incubation period—a period of time If you are using the Degrees of Success rules, these options
where, infected or not, you display no symptoms. At this will allow a critical success or failure to impact the speed at
stage, you have no idea if you're actually infected yet—all which the disease spreads through your body.
you can do is wait and hope for the best.
• Critical Success: Your disease improves by one step, goes
into decline, and your next Escalation check happens in
Step 3. Infection half the normal time.
Once the initial incubation period has passed, it's time to • Success: Your disease improves by one step and it goes
into decline.
see if your character was infected and starts displaying • Success at a Cost: You can sacrifice a precious resource
any symptoms. Make a Constitution saving throw against to help your immune system succeed—a healing potion,
the DC of the disease—this is called an Infection check: hit dice, a spell, a scroll.
Success: You are not infected. • Failure: Your disease worsens by one step.
Failure: The disease has infected your body and you • Critical Failure: Your disease worsens by one step and
begin to display the first symptoms. accelerates—your next Escalation check happens in half
the normal time.

DM: During your week in town, Viridian, you notice

you've developed a small cough. It's inoffensive, but First-Aid & Bed Rest
persistent. Make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you are treated with the appropriate first-aid, medicine,
Viridian: Damn it... (rolls 8). or bed rest during your illness, you can make your next
DM: One morning, as you wake from a particularly
Escalation check with advantage.
fierce cough, you notice some thick green phlegm in
your handkerchief. It smells foul. Decline
Viridian: The flu? Again? Every. Time. Once your symptoms have peaked and gone into decline,
you automatically succeed every subsequent Escalation
check until the disease finally leaves your system.
Wounds and Multiple Exposure
If you had any open wounds when you were exposed to Relapse
the disease, or you were exposed multiple times, it's If you come into contact with the disease again, you risk
more likely you were infected—make your Infection a relapse. Your illness stops its decline—make your next
check with disadvantage. saving throw as normal to see if your disease escalates.

Living with Disease Recovery

You have managed to recover from your disease—well
Once your disease starts to display symptoms, the battle done. But some diseases may leave a lasting effect on
begins. A runny nose, a splitting headache, a bad cough— your body—marks, scars, weakness—and you may also
manage your pain as best you can while you fight back. still be contagious to others at this point, so be careful.

Escalation Spreading Disease

Periodically, your disease will try to attack your body and
spread further. Each time the incubation period passes, Most diseases are highly contagious—once you have one,
make a Constitution saving throw to see if your disease it's very easy to pass it on to someone else. There are two
changes—this is called an Escalation check: main ways you can pass on a disease while you are
Success: Your symptoms have peaked. Your disease contagious: by touch and through air.
improves by one step and goes into decline.
Failure: Your disease worsens by one step. Touch
Your blood, sweat, and spit are rife with sickness. Anyone
DM: After another week of illness, Viridian, you feel
who makes physical contact with you while you are
contagious risks infection. Things you touch with your
your symptoms begin to change. Roll a DC 10 bare skin—door handles, cutlery, tools—also become
Constitution saving throw. contaminated and remain so for an hour.
Viridian: Fingers crossed... (rolls 18) finally. To avoid making accidental contact when touching
DM: Your fever has broken at last, and you think someone who is diseased—for example, when
you're over the worst of it now. Your flu is in decline.
administering first aid—make a DC 15 Intelligence or
Wisdom saving throw. Wearing gloves, medical robes,
Viridan: Great. Now who can I cough on... and other protective gear can help defend against
contamination—make your check with advantage.
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Air
As you breathe, cough, and sneeze, the air around you
Diagnosis
becomes thick with sickness. Anyone that comes within When you contract a disease, it's not always obvious
5ft of you is at risk of infection. Additionally, if you spend what you have from the first symptoms alone. Many
an hour in an enclosed room, it becomes contaminated diseases share similar symptoms at the beginning—
and remains so until an hour after you leave—proper headaches, fevers, rashes—so you may want to get your
ventilation and thorough cleaning can help prevent this. sickness diagnosed to prevent any nasty surprises.
By wearing a face mask, you can minimise the spread To make a diagnosis, roll a Wisdom or Intelligence
of your airborne sickness by trapping coughs and spittle. check against the rarity of the disease. You must be
However, wearing a basic mask or holding your breathe trained in Medicine. A Healer's Kit will also prove useful,
offers no protection against infection—disease is still granting advantage on your diagnosis attempt.
able to infect you via your eyes and skin.
Diagnosing Disease
DM: The guard blocks you at the door to the lord's Rarity DC Description
chambers, Clanda. "Sorry ma'am, Lord Marin has
Common 10 A frequent occurrence
ordered us not to let anyone in. Personal matters."
Clanda: Ugh, I don't have time for this. I cast Friends Rare 20 Sporadic with sudden outbreaks
and order him to let me pass. Mythic 30 A unique or magical sickness
DM: The guard pulls a hasty salute, his resolve
temporarily weakened by your magic—"Yes ma'am, at
once". He opens the door and you step forward into Magical Healing
the lord's dark chambers.
Clanda: Why is it so dark in here? Magic is a great tool for healing the body, but it is not
infallible—the body is a complicated, delicate machine.
DM: The curtains are drawn, and the air is thick and When you use magic to remove a disease, the sickness is
sickly. Lying in bed, coughing wetly, is Lord Marin. He not immediately purged but instead goes into decline.
opens one red eye. "You... should not... be in here."
Clanda: Oh you stupid lord, why didn't you say you Magic Strength
were sick! I'll open the windows quickly to air out the
Not all magic is powerful enough to fight every disease.
room. If I fall ill, I swear I'll murder him. When using a spell or effect to treat sickness, compare
the spell level to the disease DC to see if it will work.
Becoming Contagious
Magic Strength
You are contagious once your hit points are below a
certain threshold—this represents you bleeding slightly, Spell Level Max DC Examples
or breathing harder, or sweating more. The more severe 0-5 15 Lesser Restoration, Lay on Hands
the spread of your disease, the more of a risk you
become to other people. 6-8 25 Heal
When you take damage, check the Spreading Disease
table to see if you become contagious or not. 9 30 Mass Heal

Becoming Contagious
Severity Contagious
Magical Immunity
Stage 1 Less than 25% hit points remain
Some class features may grant immunity to diseases—
such as a paladin's Divine Health. In these cases, your
Stage 2 Less than 50% hit points remain immunity is not absolute—the resistance depends on the
Stage 3 Less than 75% hit points remain
level of the effect (class level, item level, spell level, etc).
Stage 4 Always contagious Magical Immunity
Level Immunity
Death
01-05 Diseases up to DC 15
If you die from a disease, your corpse becomes a
breeding ground for your sickness. Your body remains 06-10 Diseases up to DC 20
contagious for the next week. 11-15 Diseases up to DC 25
This goes for any corpse, so be careful of touching the
dead—you never know what disease they may carry. 16-20 All diseases

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 Disease Compendium Step 3: Incubation
Now choose how long the disease takes to escalate in
There are many diseases out in the world—some a mild severity. The longer the period, the longer it will be
inconvenience, some an almost-certain death sentence. before any first symptoms start to show and the longer it
This section details a number of example diseases, will be a problem.
and includes guidance on creating your vile illnesses.
Step 4: Transmission
Creating a Disease Next, pick how your disease is transmitted. Usually this
is through touch or air, but there may be other triggers.
If you want to surprise your players with a sickness
unique to your world, follow these steps to brew your
own horrific disease: The DM is creating a mythic, magical disease that
spreads through sound—resonant flux. This unusual
Step 1: Rarity disease is transmitted through audio waves whenever
First, decide how well-known the disease is in your world an infected person says the word "symphony".
—common, rare, or mythic. The more common the
sickness, the easier it is to make a correct diagnosis.
Step 5: Stages
Step 2: DC Now it's time to decide on the specific effects of your
Next, decide how contagious the disease is. The higher disease. Every disease has 4 stages, each increasing in
the DC, the harder it is to resist the disease—use a small severity. Describe the physical effects, and assign a
DC if you want characters to recover quickly. mechanical penalty of some kind.
When deciding on the DC, consider any rare items Effects are cumulative, so be careful not to assign too
that your characters might need to hunt for to overcome many effects at each step. At the same time, avoid having
their sickness—rare flowers from the Fetid Swamp, stages with no mechanical effect.
crushed dragonbone from the Ancient Graveyard, or a These are some effects you might like to consider:
horse's heart from the Yellowgrass Plains.
• -1/-2 to an ability modifier.
Disease DC • Fall into a coma, or death.
• Reduced movement, or total paralysis.
Description DC • Advantage or disadvantage on certain rolls.
Easy to recover from, most people will only be 05 / 10
• Halve your speed.
ill for a short time before they fight it off. • Vulnerability to certain damage.
• Lose some or all of your hit dice.
These diseases hang around for a while, and
most people will need to consider bed rest or
15 / 20 • Gain a level of exhaustion.
some medicine to help them get better. Step 6: Cure
These diseases are almost impossible to recover 25 / 30 Finally, decide on any lingering effects on recovery from
from. Most people have no chance at stopping the disease—scars, weakness, immunity, etc. This is a
this sickness and can only accept their fate if no good way to leave a lasting mark on characters and
actual cure is possible.
NPCs—even recovery has a price.

Diseases
Name Description Rarity DC Inc. Transmission
Bubonic Plague Horrible buboes spread across the body Rare 25 1 day Touch
Chickenpox Tiny, itchy spots spread across the body Common 20 2 days Touch, Air
Cholera Diarrhea and dehydration Common 10 1 day Touch (excrement)
Diphtheria A bad throat infection that can permanently scar the skin Rare 15 3 days Touch, Air
Dysentery Stomach cramps and vomiting Common 20 1 day Touch (excrement)
Influenza Fatigue, headaches, and fever Common 10 2 days Touch, Air
Smallpox Large, pus-filled spots cover the body Rare 15 4 days Touch, Air
Stonescale The skin turns grey and cracked, and the mind turns feral Mythic 30 4 weeks Touch
Syphilis A persistent fever that eventually attacks the mind Common 20 4 weeks Touch (sore)
Tapeworm A parasite that feeds inside the body causing weight loss Common 15 1 week Touch (excrement)
Typhoid Fever A bad fever and diarrhea Common 15 1 week Touch (excrement)
Whooping Cough Coughing fits violent enough to break bone Common 15 1 week Air

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 Bubonic Plague Touch · DC 25 Diphtheria Touch, Air · DC 15
Disease, Rare 1 day Disease, Rare 3 days

Often mistaken for influenza at first, swollen buboes A nasty infection of the throat that can cause
fast begin to mark the body. Without immediate aid, permanent scarring if it penetrates the skin.
this disease is almost certainly a death sentence.
Effects
Effects Stage Effect
Stage Effect 1 You have a sore throat and headache. You have -2
CHA and disadvantage on concentration checks.
1 Your body aches and you have a slight fever. You
have -2 to all ability modifiers. 2 You have swollen glands in your neck and it's very
painful to swallow. You have -2 STR and -2 DEX.
2 Painful buboes appear around your arm, groin, and
neck. You have disadvantage on all rolls. 3 Large, painful ulcers appear on your skin. You have
-2 CON and disadvantage on social checks.
3 Your fever burns extremely hot and you can't stop
sweating. You fall into a coma. 4 Pus-filled blisters appear on your legs, hands, and
feet. You have disadvantage on all rolls.
4 Your internal organs fail and you die.
Cured You have a few noticable, permanent scars from
Cured Your body is scarred by the buboes. your skin ulcers.

Chickenpox Touch, Air · DC 20 Dysentery Touch (excrement) · DC 20

Disease, Common 2 days Disease, Common 1 day

Tiny, itchy spots that spread across your entire body. Easy to catch and painful to endure, one sip of dirty
Very contagious, but not usually life-threatening. water can be enough to ruin your whole week.

Effects Effects
Stage Effect Stage Effect
1 You have a slight fever and feel weak. You have -2 1 You suffer painful stomach cramps. You have
STR and -2 DEX. disadvantage on all saving throws.
2 You have noticeable pox marks across your body. 2 You have a mighty need to use the restroom. You
You have disadvantage on all social checks. have -2 to all ability modifiers.
3 You are covered in itchy spots. You have 3 You can't keep any food down. You gain thirst and
disadvantage on concentration checks. fatigue at twice the normal rate.
4 Your fever is burning hot. You have disadvantage on 4 Your body is too weak to stand. Your speed is
all rolls. reduced to 0.
Cured You have a few small scars from the pox. You are Cured You can't eat rich food during the next week
permanently immune to chickenpox. without being sick.

Cholera Touch (excrement) · DC 10 Influenza Touch, Air · DC 10

Disease, Common 1 day Disease, Common 2 days

One drink of bad water and you'll be curled up by the A harmless cough and a slight fever can quickly turn
toilet for a week—or die from dehydration. into something much more serious without bed rest.

Effects Effects
Stage Effect Stage Effect
1 You feel sick and nauseous, and eating food causes 1 You have a bad headache and a runny nose. You
you to vomit. -2 DEX and -2 WIS. have -2 INT, and -2 WIS.
2 You have diarrhea. -2 STR, -2 CHA, and you gain 2 Your entire body aches and your throat is sore. You
thirst at twice the normal rate. have -2 STR, -2 DEX, and -2 CHA.
3 You have lost noticeable weight. You are 3 You have a terrible fever and hallucinations. You
dehydrated and have disadvantage on all rolls. cannot move under your own power.
4 Your body goes into shock from severe 4 Your internal organs fail and, after slipping into a
dehydration, and you die. coma, you die within a few hours.
Cured You can't eat rich food for the next week without Cured You have an annoying cough for one week and
being sick. occasional light-headedness.

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 Smallpox Touch, Air · DC 15 Tapeworm Touch (excrement) · DC 15
Disease, Rare 4 days Disease, Common 1 week

Tiny spots that quickly become large, painful blisters Tiny parasites that hide away in rotten meat and
across your entire body, leaving you with pox scars. excrement. Watch what you eat.

Effects Effects
Stage Effect Stage Effect
1 You have a slight fever and feel weak. You have -2 1 You always seem to be hungry. You gain hunger at
STR and -2 DEX. twice the normal rate.
2 You have a persistent headache and flat, red spots 2 You have lost a significant amount of weight. You
on your face, hands, and forearms. You have -2 INT, have -2 CON and -2 STR.
-2 WIS, and -2 CON.
3 You suffer from terrible headaches and some
3 Your spots become large, painful, pus-filled blisters. memory loss. You have -2 INT and -2 WIS.
You have disadvantage on all rolls.
4 The parasites have reached your brain. You fall into
4 Your fever is extremely hot. You fall into a coma. a coma and die.
Cured You have severe scars from the pox. You are Cured You have a fragile stomach and painful cramps for
immune to smallpox for 10 years. one week.

Stonescale Touch · DC 30 Typhoid Fever Touch (excrement) · DC 15

Disease, Mythic 4 weeks Disease, Common 1 week

As your skin turns grey and cracked, your mind decays Sometimes it's better to go thirsty than take a drink of
to that of a wild animal. Kill them before they kill you. filthy water. Don't risk it—boil it.

Effects Effects
Stage Effect Stage Effect
1 The skin around your eyes turns noticeably grey. 1 You have a fever, a headache, and frequent
You have disadvantage on social checks. nosebleeds. You have -2 to all modifiers.
2 Your skin is grey and cracked. Movement is painful. 2 Red spots appear on your skin and you are easily
You have -2 to all ability modifiers. exhausted. You gain fatigue at twice the rate.
3 You become very forgetful and increasingly 3 Your stomach hurts and you suffer frequent
aggressive. You have advantage on all STR rolls, and diarrhea. You gain thirst at twice the rate and have
disadvantage on all INT, WIS, and CHA rolls. disadvantage to all social checks.
4 You have lost your mind and become a wild beast. 4 Your fever is burning hot and you are delirious. You
cannot move or act on your own power.
Cured Your skin is permanently marked with stonescale.
You are immune to stonescale. Cured You feel fragile for the next week.

Syphilis Touch (sore) · DC 20 Whooping Cough Air · DC 15

Disease, Common 4 weeks Disease, Common 1 week

The flesh is weak. Let your guard down for one night Fits of violent coughing followed by a 'whooping'
and you might still be paying for it years later. inhale of breathe—and sometimes, broken ribs.

Effects Effects
Stage Effect Stage Effect
1 A highly-contagious sore opens near your lips or 1 You have a mild cough and disadvantage on
groin. You have disadvantage on social checks. concentration checks.
2 A rash appears on your hands and feet, and you 2 You cough in loud, uncontrollable fits with a
have a fever. You have -2 DEX and -2 CON. gasping inhale. You have -2 STR and -2 DEX.
3 More sores appear on your body, and you are easily 3 Your coughing fits are violent enough to cause
exhausted. You have -2 STR and gain fatigue at vomiting. You have disadvantage on all rolls.
twice the normal rate.
4 Your cough is so violent you have broken some of
4 You have lost noticeable weight and your mind is your ribs. You have 0 hit dice and cannot move
fuzzy. You have -2 INT, -2 WIS, and -2 CHA. without immense pain.
Cured You still carry the disease and can infect others. Cured You have an annoying cough for the next week.

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 23

Survival Conditions

C
' ; These basic conditions worsen naturally throughout the
affect and are affected by their surroundings— day, becoming more severe and eventually leading to
going without sleep makes you tired, failing to eat increasing levels of exhaustion if left untreated.
makes you hungry, not drinking makes you thirsty. Depending on the situation, this can be a real problem
With survival conditions, players track the physical state for your character:
of their character. It's hard, thirsty work being an
adventurer—do you have the resources to survive?
This chapter introduces several survival conditions Viridian has been travelling through the Emerald Rift
and examples of how to use them in your game. for two days, chased by the relentless Witch of
Gloamgard. His supplies are running low, and he hasn't

Your Conditions been able to rest easily in the haunted woods.

The bard is ravenous (5 hunger), parched (3 thirst),
With survival conditions, player keep track of three and barely awake (6 fatigue)—he has +2 exhaustion
physical states which can affect their character's general from his conditions, cutting his speed in half. Unless
performance: hunger, thirst, and fatigue. Viridian can find food fast for some quick energy, the
dreaded Witch will be right on his heels.
• Hunger: Few things burn through calories as fast as
adventuring, so keep some snacks in your pocket.
• Thirst: Adventure, travel, and combat are thirsty Keep an eye on your conditions, using your supplies to
work. Keep a waterskin close by to avoid dehydration. manage them as best you can—eat food to stave off
• Fatigue: It takes a keen mind to watch out for danger, hunger, drink water to quench your thirst, and get some
so get regular sleep to stay alert and aware. sleep to remove your fatigue.

Survival Conditions
Stage Hunger Thirst Fatigue Temperature Effect Stamina DC
0 Stuffed Quenched Energised Perfect -1 Exhaustion —
1 Well-fed Refreshed Well-rested Comfortable — 5
2 Ok Ok Ok Ok — 10
3 Peckish Parched Tired Noticeable — 15
4 Hungry Thirsty Sleepy Uncomfortable — 20
5 Ravenous Dry Very sleepy Overwhelming +1 Exhaustion 25
6 Starving Dehydrated Barely awake Unbearable +1 Exhaustion 30

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 Using Survival Conditions
DM: To cross the pit requires a simple jump, Clanda
Survival conditions can be a fun, easy way to immerse —roll a DC 10 Athletics check.
players in the fiction of your campaign, but they only have an
Clanda: Ok.. (rolls 9) augh, so close!
impact if resources—like food and water—are restricted.
If your characters have easy access to food and water, or DM: You clear the jump with a stumble, noticing a
time is not an issue, or survival is simply not an important rumble in your stomach as you land. Gain +1 hunger.
theme in your game, conditions won't have much impact.

Monster Attacks
Gaining a Condition Monster and environmental effects can drain characters
Characters gain hunger, thirst, and fatigue in four of their stamina and resources. As DM, add condition
primary ways whilst adventuring: through the natural modifiers to some of your existing monster attacks and
passage of time, by falling to 0 hit points, through failure traps—or add brand new condition-causing powers.
consequences, and by suffering certain monster attacks.
• A fire elemental burns the air around you with a blast
Time of Day of searing heat: you gain +1 thirst.
As the day progresses, characters become more hungry, • A green ooze wraps around your arm and sucks the
thirsty, and tired. Conditions worsen at dawn, noon, and nutrients from your flesh: you gain +1 hunger.
dusk—the specific effects are listed in the table below. • An eldritch mage whispers a cacophonous verse and
commands you to sleep: you gain +1 fatigue.
Hunger, Thirst & Fatigue
Time Hunger Thirst Fatigue
Improving Your Condition
Dawn +1 +1 —
Whenever appropriate, your character can attempt to
improve their physical condition in a manner that makes
Noon — — +1 sense. Some of the most common actions are:
Dusk +1 +1 +1
• Eat a ration of food: −1 hunger per ration. Better
quality food may relieve more hunger per ration.
Across a normal, uneventful day, a character will gain +2 • Drink a ration of water: −1 thirst per ration. Better
hunger, +2 thirst, and +2 fatigue—this means a character quality water may relieve more thirst per ration.
needs 2 rations of food, 2 rations of water, and a good • Get a good night's sleep: (undisturbed) −3 fatigue. A
night's sleep each day to stay in good form. disturbed night's sleep grants only −1 fatigue.
During the adventure, the DM—or whoever else is
keeping track of time—announces the changes in
character conditions when appropriate. DM: You rise at dawn, Valiant, your stomach
growling. Gain +1 hunger and +1 thirst.
Valiant: I'll eat one of my rations (-1 hunger) and take
DM: It's been a long afternoon, but dusk approaches.
a swig from my waterskin (-1 thirst)—that should keep
Everyone gains +1 hunger, +1 thirst, and +1 fatigue.
me going till nightfall.

Falling to 0 HP
Nearing death is an exhausting shock to the body. If you
fall to 0 hit points for any reason—including shapeshifted
Exhaustion
forms such as Wild Shape—you gain +1 fatigue. The worse your condition, the more exhausted your
character will become. Whenever a condition reaches
stage 5 or 6, it generates +1 exhaustion—for a maximum
DM: The orc clubs you for 9 hit points, Sarien. of +3 exhaustion across all conditions.
Sarien: Ouch, that knocks me unconscious.
DM: Bad luck. Gain +1 fatigue. Valiant is ravenous (5 hunger), dry (5 thirst), and barely
Sarien: Damn it. If I survive this, I'm gonna need the awake (6 fatigue)—he has +3 exhaustion from his
longest sleep tonight... unfortunate conditions.
Unable to find food, he later finds himself starving
Consequences (6 hunger). His exhaustion remains at +3.
You may gain survival conditions as a consequence of
failing an action, at your DM's discretion—or, if using the Once a condition has begun to cause exhaustion, that
Degrees of Success rules, offer to gain a condition and exhaustion remains on your character until the condition
succeed at a cost. is sufficiently improved.
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Relieving Exhaustion Gaining Temperature
A condition stops causing exhaustion once it has been Your body temperature is affected primarily by the
improved to stage 4 or higher. After the next short rest, weather and environment. The DM describes the
update the character's exhaustion counters. baseline temperature when appropriate—often when you
enter or research a new region, dungeon, or lair:
Valiant finds a cache of food supplies. He immediately
eats 3 rations-worth, healing 3 hunger and improving DM: It's starting to rain outside and, as you step out,
his overall condition to Peckish. an uncomfortably cold wind blows past. You think it
His Hunger condition continues to add +1 might even become unbearably cold outside tonight.
exhaustion until he takes a short rest, at which point
his total exhaustion drops from +3 to +2. Hot or Cold
The temperature conditions apply to both hot and cold
climates—it could be unbearably cold in the arctic
Stamina Check wastes, or unbearably hot in the arid desert.
It's hard work being an adventurer—battles to fight, Time of Day
ropes to climb, rivers to swim—and such activity can be Temperatures change throughout the day as the sun
draining to those without the proper constitution. rises and sets. Check the table below to see how the
After a particularly strenuous event, the DM can ask baseline temperature might be affected by your climate.
you to make a Stamina check (Constitution saving throw)
against the DC of your best condition. A failure means Climate Temperature Change
that your stamina was tapped during the event—roll a d6
to see which condition worsens. Time Hot Moderate Cold
Morning +1 — +1
Stamina Check
Afternoon +2 −1 —
d6 Outcome d6 Outcome d6 Outcome
Evening +1 — +1
1-2 +1 Hunger 3-4 +1 Thirst 5-6 +1 Fatigue
Night — +1 +2

DM: The last goblin drops his dagger and flees into Monster Effects
the night. Well done, everyone. Now roll a Stamina Some monsters can affect the surrounding temperature
check. by their sheer presence, producing scorching heat or
Valiant: 14. I didn't break a sweat. chilling winds.
Sarien: 9. That's what I get for skipping breakfast...
(rolls 6) +1 fatigue. Getting sleepy here. DM: Frozen winds surround the King of Frost—it is
Clanda: 7. Damn, not enough. I gain... (rolls 4) +1 unbearably cold around him. If you end your turn
thirst. Great, and my waterskin's dry already. Has adjacent to him, you'll suffer the chill...
anyone got a drink? I'm feeling pretty thirsty right now.

Improving your Temperature

Variant: Temperature Whenever appropriate, your character can improve their
temperature in a manner that makes sense. Some of the
If you want to give a mechanical environmental effects, most common actions are:
add the Temperature survival condition to your game.
With the Temperature condition, characters must • Appropriate clothing: Thick furs and cloaks will help
keep an eye out for the weather and make sure to keep protect you from the cold, while thin fabrics will help
their body temperature in check to avoid suffering from cool you in the heat.
exhaustion. • Find shelter: Sometimes you have to take a break
and rest. Build a shelter to keep warm against a
Using Temperature freezing wind, or provide shade against a scoring sun.
• Cast spells: Some spells and abilities may provide
The Temperature condition works best in games that feature you with a burst of much-needed warmth or cold.
a lot of exploration in harsh climates with unpredictable or • Racial abilities: Some races are naturally resilient
unforgiving weather patterns—a scorching desert, a frozen against cold or heat. These innate characteristics will
mountain pass, a temperamental jungle. help protect you against certain temperatures.
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 24

Stress & Afflictions

T
. Gaining Stress
Moving from town to town, delving into dark
dungeons and hunting dangerous monsters for Category Stress Description
perhaps a few gold coins, is not a safe—or sane— Minor +1 A small frustration, worry, or irritant:
way to make a living. missing an attack, falling down,
This chapter introduces mechanics to track a hearing a noise in the dark.
character's stress level, and the lingering consequences
on their adventuring career. Moderate +2
(1d4)
You've made a critical error or
something is seriously at risk: being
caught lying, learning that the villain

Stress
has escaped, being outnumbered.
Major +4 Something devastating to your
(1d6) character or their beliefs: breaking
Stress is a measure of pressure on a character's mental an oath, falling to 0 hp, finding a
state, representing a build-up of negative emotions such heap of fresh corpses.
as anger, fear, frustration, and irritation. Too much Stress
is bad for your mental health and, if not treated carefully, Monstrous +8
(1d6 + 4)
Something incomprehensible or
world-shattering: meeting a god,
can lead to detrimental Afflictions—or even death. being betrayed by your closest
Characters can suffer up to 40 points of Stress before friend, watching a loved one die.
they reach breaking point. To prevent this, they'll need to
find ways to relax and recover during downtime.
Consequential Stress
Gaining Stress You can gain Stress as a direct consequence of failing an
action—missing an attack, breaking a lockpick, being
Stress is gained through danger, hardship, and adversity caught in the middle of a lie. The DM will usually notify
—suffering a critical hit from an enemy, hearing an you before your attempt that this is a risk.
unearthly moan from a dark room, sleeping rough in the Here we see Chansi attempt to pick a pick, becoming
cold rain, watching an ally die. Anything that threatens stressed when she fails.
the mental well-being of your character can inflict Stress.
When choosing how much Stress to inflict, decide
how significant the event is to the character—is it minor, Chansi: Ok, let's see what's in this chest. I want to
moderate, major, or monstrous? The more emotionally pick the lock on this thing—what's the DC?
significant, the higher the amount of Stress. DM: It's a secure metal chest, so DC 20.
The more an event conflicts with the nature of your Chansi: Easy. Lemme just... (rolls 15) ugh, fail.
character, the greater the Stress you'll suffer—a bard may DM: You hear the pins clicking in the lock, Chansi,
be more embarrassed to ruin a performance than a
wizard, while a lawful paladin is more hurt by a broken but you can't understand why they're not setting. It's a
oath than a lawless rogue. frustrating failure for you—gain 1 point of Stress.

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 Stress as a Consequence Snapping
Whether through consequence or an explicit Stress check, a Too much Stress can be unhealthy for your character,
character should gain Stress only as a consequence for causing long-term problems. When your character gains
failing a roll of some kind—such as an attack roll, a defence 20, 30, and 35 points of Stress for the first time after a
roll, a skill check, or a Stress check. long rest, they snap and develop a mental Affliction.

Stress Check DM: In a very surprising turn of events, Krazak failed

In cases where the environment or situation provokes an to smash open the chest with his headbutt. Krazak,
emotional response—standing before a dragon, entering you gain 1 point of Stress.
a decrepit tomb, hearing a terrifying sound—you may be Krazak: These gods damned elven boxes. I'm up to
asked to pass a Stress check (Wisdom saving throw) to
avoid gaining some Stress. 20 now—I've snapped. Time for a new Affliction...
In this example, Viridian comes across a pile of
rotting corpses and must pass a Stress check to keep his Breaking Point
composure and avoid gaining Stress.
When a character gains 40 points of Stress, they hit
DM: You smell something foul, Viridian. Behind the
breaking point. In this state, your character is reckless,
dangerous, and extremely vulnerable.
wooden door, you can hear a faint buzzing sound. If you are hit by a damaging attack while at breaking
Viridian: I open the door cautiously. point, your character suffers a fatal heart attack. You fall
DM: Your torchlight illuminates a grisly scene—a to 0 hit points, fail any remaining death saving throws,
dozen rotting corpses hidden in a small pantry, and die immediately.
covered in a thick swarm of fat flies. The putrid stench
of rotting flesh threatens to overwhelm you. Make a DM: The dragon lashes out at you, Clanda, swinging
Stress check, DC 20. its huge tail. Make a defence roll, DC 32.
Viridian: I'm... (rolls 22) phew, ok. Clanda: I... (rolls natural 1) ouch, take a critical hit.
DM: Horrifying though this, you manage to retain DM: The dragon's tail slams into you without mercy.
your composure. Perhaps this isn't the first time Take 26 points of damage, one notch on your armor,
you've seen a heap of rotting corpses? and 2 points of Stress.
Clanda: Damn, that puts me at 40 Stress.
Here, Valiant returns to town to find he has been DM: Your heart is pounding, Clanda, and it's hard to
betrayed by a trusted mentor and his sister is in grave breathe. You're not sure you can take another hit...
peril. His world is turned upside down, so he faces an
almost impossible Stress check.
Stressful Situations
DM: Fire rages through the town. You hear a scream, These are some example situations that might trigger Stress.
Valiant, coming from the church. What do you do? Some characters may respond more strongly than others
Valiant: Does it sound like Zelrya? depending on their background—a fighter may be less
stressed about being outnumbered in battle, while a
DM: It does, yes.
necromancer might not react to the sight of a dead body.
Valiant: I throw my shield aside and run ahead
• Badly failing an attack or skill check
through the burning streets, leaving the others behind.
• Hearing an unearthly roar from the dark
DM: As you pass through the arch, You see Zelrya at • Embarrassing yourself in front of someone
the foot of the church steps, lying face down in a pool • Falling over or being knocked down
of blood. She isn't moving. Atop the steps stands • Being disarmed or disabled
• Critically failing an attack or skill check
Bishop Vendicus, a mad grin on his face and a • Seeing a heap of mutilated corpses
bloodied dagger in his hands. "She's with the Grey • Facing a huge or formidable enemy
King now, boy, He calls her to His hungry throne." • Being caught lying
• Being surrounded, outnumbered, or out-flanked
Valiant: Gods damn it Vendicus, we trusted you!
• Being critically hit by an attack
DM: Your sister lies dying, and your mentor has • Seeing an ally die
betrayed you, Valiant. Make a Stress check, DC 30. • Accidentally hurting a friend
Valiant: That... (rolls 22) bastard. • Seeing the corpse of a loved one
• Seeing a hideous abomination
DM: Your mind reels from this horrific turnabout, • Breaking an oath
Valiant—gain 8 points of Stress. • Being betrayed by an ally

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 Healing Stress Downtime
Stress is healed through success and relaxation— While out travelling, a good time to heal Stress is during
disarming a trap, defeating a formidable opponent, downtime and through sleep. Here, Sarien takes
carousing in town, sleeping in a warm bed. Anything that advantage of his downtime during a night's rest to
helps your character feel better can heal Stress. meditate and clear his mind.
The amount healed depends on the significance to
your character. The more it aligns with your character's
personality, the more you heal (at the DM's discretion)— DM: Ok, camp's been set up for the night. What do
rogues benefits more than mages from lockpicking, while you all do for the next few hours?
clerics benefit more than fighters from prayer. Sarien: I spend a couple of hours meditating.
DM: Ok—it's been an easy day, so make a DC 10
Healing Stress Wisdom check.
Category Stress Description Sarien: No problem... (rolls 17).
Minor −1 A small success or bit of good
DM: You're able to calm your mind and organise
news: disarming a trap, playing a your thoughts, Sarien. Heal 2 points of Stress.
song, relaxing with your friends.
Moderate −2 A critical success or special
(1d4) achievement: eating a well-cooked
Taking a Long Rest
meal, finding a hoard of treasure, When you complete a long rest in a sanctuary, such as a
repairing something important. village, town, or city, you heal all stress. Reduce your
Major −4 You've beaten the odds and gained a Stress level to 0.
(1d6) major victory: defeating a dangerous
enemy, saving an ally from death,
completing a work of art. Returning to the town of Darrowmore, Valiant takes a
Majestic −8 You've achieved a long-term goal or long rest and begins a week of training. Once the week
(1d6 + 4) done something thought near is over, he reduces his Stress to 0.
impossible: bringing a friend back
from death, finishing a masterpiece,
receiving praise from your deity. Calm Emotions
When you are affected by the Calm Emotions spell—or
Here we see Clanda attempt to disarm a magical trap other similar magic spells and effects—you heal a
with her arcane training, healing Stress in the process. moderate amount of Stress.
As a sorceress disarming a magical trap, she heals a
moderate amount of Stress instead of a minor amount. Stress Relief

DM: The runes are glowing brighter, and you feel These are some things a character might do to reduce their
stress levels. Not everyone will recover in the same way—an
static building in the air. If you don't act quick, Clanda,
introvert may unwind best on their own with a good book
this trap will explode. and some hot tea, while an extrovert may want to throw a
Clanda: Pfft, this is amateur work—dwarven runes raucous and extravagant party to blow off steam.
are so basic. I'll try to dispel the binding rune to disarm • Disarming a trap
the trap harmlessly. • Defeating a dangerous enemy
• Eating a hot, well-cooked meal
Valiant: Uh, are you sure about that? Last time—
• Making people laugh with a joke
Clanda: Hush now, I'm working. • Listening to a bard perform a song
DM: Ok, that'll be a DC 20 Wisdom check. You can • Carousing in a rowdy tavern
use Arcana with this. • Picking a lock
• Sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed
Clanda: See I told you, Valiant... (rolls 24) I got this. • Praying to your deity
DM: You manage to locate the binding rune and, • Finding a chest of treasure
with a careful words, draw the magic out of it. With a • Arriving somewhere safely after a long journey
• Spending time with family and friends
harmless spark, the runic trap shatters. Clanda, you
• Learning a new skill
heal 2 points of Stress—everyone else heals 1. • Engaging in a hobby
Clanda: You're welcome, everyone. • Playing with a pet
• Rolling dice and playing some games
It is much harder to heal Stress than it is to gain it, so •
•
Fulfilling an oath or promise
Protecting an ally from harm
you'll need to be proactive in treating your Stress level • Meditating and resting
before it becomes insurmountable. Rest when you can, • Making a discovery
and try not to over-exert yourself.
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 Afflictions Affliction Removal
d20 Result
An Affliction is a stress-induced mental issue suffered by 01 Critical Failure: You fail to cure your Affliction,
a character when they gain too much Stress. Afflictions gaining a new one in the process.
affect your character's abilities and can only be cured
during downtime. 02-09 Failure: You fail to cure your Affliction.
When you gain 20, 30, and 35 Stress for the first time 10-19 Success: You cured your Affliction.
after a long rest, roll on the Afflictions table to see which
new mental Affliction you develop. If you roll a duplicate, 20 Critical Success: In a moment of clarity, you
roll again until you get a new result. cleared yourself of all Afflictions and Stress.

Afflictions You can only make one Affliction Removal attempt per in-
game week, so make the best of it.
d100 Affliction Modifier
01-06 Fearful Disadvantage on WIS checks & saves
Costs
As you gain in experience, it becomes harder to reset
07-12 Lethargic +1 exhaustion until removed
your mental state—the things you have seen and
13-18 Masochistic Disadvantage on CON checks & saves experienced have had a lasting impact. It costs more to
19-24 Irrational Disadvantage on INT checks & saves remove an Affliction the higher your level as you must
25-30 Paranoid Speed is halved
seek more elite and exotic outlets.
31-36 Selfish Disadvantage on CHA checks & saves
Affliction Removal Costs
37-42 Panic Disadvantage on DEX checks & saves
Level Gold Level Gold Level Gold
43-48 Hopelessness Disadvantage on STR checks & saves
1 5 8 42 15 432
49-54 Mania Disadvantage on attack rolls
55-60 Anxiety Disadvantage on Stress checks 2 7 9 58 16 604

61-66 Hypochondria Hit point maximum is halved 3 9 10 81 17 845

67-72 Narcissistic Disadvantage on ability checks 4 12 11 113 18 1,183
73-77 Powerful +2 to all damage rolls 5 16 12 158 19 1,656
78-82 Focused +2 to all attack rolls 6 22 13 221 20 2,318
83-87 Stalwart +2 AC
7 30 14 309 — —
88-91 Acute Advantage on INT checks & saves
92-96 Perceptive Advantage on WIS checks & saves
Greater Restoration
97-00 Courageous Advantage on CHA checks & saves The Greater Restoration spell may be used to let you
make an Affliction Removal attempt outside of a long
DM: Sarien, you hear a sickly moan from the
rest. This counts as your once-per-week removal attempt.
From levels 1-10, you may roll your Affliction Removal
shadows. Make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw to see check with advantage when using Greater Restoration.
if you can keep your composure. From levels 11-20 however, roll with disadvantage.
Sarien: Sure. (rolls 6) Damn, not enough.
DM: Gain 1 point of Stress, Sarien. Mental Breakdown
Sarien: That pushes me over 20—looks like I'm
If your character gains more than 3 Afflictions, they
feeling pretty... (rolls 41) panicked. How appropriate. suffer a complete mental breakdown—your character
falls catatonic and must be committed into care or die.
Curing Afflictions A character who has had a breakdown can no longer
be played—treat them as if they have retired.
Afflictions don't go away on their own—your character
must dedicate time to treating their mental state. During Recovery
a long rest, your character can attempt to treat one of If a character is placed in good care, there is a rare
their Afflictions in an appropriate fashion—carousing, chance they may eventually recover from their
praying, resting, meditating, etc. breakdown. For each month of proper care, they may roll
Spend some gold to roll a d20 to make an Affliction an Affliction Removal attempt with disadvantage. A
Removal attempt. Some downtime activities, such as month after they have removed all Afflictions, they
resting, may allow you to roll with advantage—bear this recover their senses and can be active again.
in mind if your Afflictions are proving hard to clear, Each time a character recovers from a breakdown,
before you become overwhelmed by them. their minimum Stress increases by 10.
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 PART 5
Rest & Downtime

25 Short Rest p77

p77
Get your breath back with a short rest.

26 Long Rest p82

p82
Take a long rest and catch up with some downtime.

27 Leveling Up p85
p85
Train with a mentor to unlock your full potential.
 25

Short Rest

A
,
only to catch their breath between action, treat Recover Hit Points
wounds, and prepare for upcoming dangers. Spend your hit dice to recover some lost hit points. If the
This chapter defines the short rest period, some Bloodied condition (p57) is in effect and you have lost
basic activities you might undertake while resting, and half of your hit points, you will need to use a first-aid kit—
how to set up camp for an overnight rest. or similar supplies—to spend any hit dice.
Regain Class/Racial Features
Taking a Short Rest Some classes and races regain powers after a short rest
is completed—monk ki, warlock spell slots, dragonborn
A short rest is a period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, breath weapon, etc. Check your character sheet to see
in which characters sit down to perform a few basic which features you recover.
tasks—such as eating, drinking, and treating wounds.
During a short rest you can spend hit dice, bind any Eat & Drink
injuries, and consume some essential supplies—but If Survival Conditions (p69) are in effect, you can use
anything more intensive will require you to settle down this time to eat some food and drink to satiate your
and set up camp for a longer stay. hunger or thirst. In addition, if you are suffering from
exhaustion caused by one of your conditions, you can
remove it if your condition is sufficiently improved.
DM: Your blade slices through the dire wolf. With a
pained howl, the other wolves turn and flee into the Recover Magical Burnout
dark forest. If you are suffering from Magical Burnout (p47), you can
Valiant: That was a close one. You ok, Viridian? spend some hit dice to recover and—hopefully—prevent
Viridian: Took a few bad hits there. We should take a
any dangerous burnout consequences in future.
rest soon so I can heal up before we reach Blightmere. Change Inventory Quickslots
Clanda: Much as it pains me to say, the bard's right If the Quickdraw inventory rules (p23) are in effect, you
—I need to bandage up this bite wound. can change your three selected quickdraw items.
Valiant: Alright, we still have sunlight to burn. Let's
Treat Wounds
find a safe spot to rest in for an hour.
If you are suffering from any lingering wounds (p57), you
can treat them if you have sufficient first-aid resources.
Basic Activities Research/Investigate
During your short rest, whilst you're catching your Research, read, or investigate something within reach—
breath, you can perform some basic activities. such as an encrypted book, a strangely carved monolith,
Complicated tasks may require you to set up camp first. or an unidentified magic item.
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 Setting Up Camp The four adventurers start to set up camp. With clear
skies and a sheltered forest, the camping DC is only
If you decide to rest for a prolonged period of time—or 10. Between them, they have two bedrolls and a two-
need to perform some complicated tasks—it's time to set person tent—enough camping gear for all four.
up camp. Find a secure site, start a campfire, pitch your
tents, and secure any animals, vehicles, or cargo. Valiant rolls 13, Chansi 17, Viridian 11, and Clanda
There are five basic steps to follow when trying to set 7. The camp is prepared with one setback—a weak
up camp: campfire. Any camp activities will have a base DC 10.

1. Make Camp: Make Camping checks to see how well

you set up camp—the more successes you have, the Variant: Alternate Skills
nicer your camp site is. If you want to support skills other than Survival when
2. Nominate the Lookout: The lookout is in charge of making camp, consider this Alternate Skills variant.
camp defence, keeping watch for any threats. Depending on your character and background, you
3. Perform Camp Activities: Each party member (who may use another skill instead of Survival—if appropriate
is not on lookout duty) can perform one primary —when making your Camping check. For example:
camp-related activity in addition to any other basic
short rest activities. • Athletics: You help by moving something heavy to
4. Sleep: Try to get some rest for a few hours. clear space for the camp.
5. Pack Up: Pack up camp and prepare to move on. • Nature: You help by finding good wood—and other
natural fuel—for the campfire.
Making Camp • Animal Handling: You help by checking the site isn't
in the territory of any dangerous, wild animals.
To make camp, each party member must roll a Camping
check—a Strength/Intelligence/Wisdom (Survival) ability At least one Camping check must be made using the
check—against a target DC (see the Camping DC table) Survival skill, and any alternate skills can only be used
as they each try to help set up the campsite. by one party member—so choose who rolls which skill.
The more successes the party has, the more
thoroughly they prepare the final campsite—making it The Lookout
easier to defend, rest, and perform other camp activities.
It's a great risk to set up camp without appointing
Camping Check DC someone to watch out for any would-be intruders. A
lookout is in charge of camp security and keeps an eye
DC Description out for potential threats.
10 Safe, dry land is easy to find / the weather is clear. If you are the lookout, roll an Intelligence (Survival)
check to see how well you secure the camp against
15 A campsite requires effort to find / there's bad potential dangers. If you have any tools, equipment, or
weather—rain, light snow, heavy fog, etc.
magic that might help—traps, bells, the Alarm spell—you
20 It's hard to find a safe campsite / the weather is may roll your check with advantage.
terrible—heavy rain, a fierce storm, a howling Success: You noted some weak spots in the camp's
wind.
defence and secured them.
Failure: You made a bad job of securing the camp.
Camping Results You have disadvantage on perception checks against any
would-be intruders while camping.
Failures Description
0 A perfect campsite. Activity checks are DC 5. Clanda: I'll take lookout tonight—I owe Viridian one.
1 A decent campsite with one glaring flaw. Activity DM: You all made a decent camp site, so make a
checks are DC 10. lookout check against DC 10 to set the defences.
2 or A shoddy campsite just barely fit for purpose. Clanda: I'll set a few Alarm spells around the
more Activity checks are DC 15.
perimeter, that should help.
DM: It does—make your roll with advantage.
Camping Equipment Clanda: Simple... (rolls 8 and 17). See—nothing's
It's hard to set up camp if you're relying on nature alone getting past me tonight.
to provide you with shelter and comfort. If you don't have
any appropriate camping equipment—such as a bedroll
or tent—roll your Camping check with disadvantage. Focus
Some equipment, such as a two-person tent, may Being on lookout takes a good deal of focus. If you are on
count as camping gear for multiple people—if they're lookout, you cannot join in with any camp activities
willing to share. besides eating, drinking, and sleeping.
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Camp Activities Regaining Hit Dice
While camping, you can perform one primary activity (in Some activities—such as eating a hot meal or drinking a
addition to the normal basic activities) before you sleep. restorative—allow you to regain spent hit dice. These
Below are listed some example activities—if an activity is activities stack with each other: if you eat a hot meal, drink a
not covered here, discuss it with your DM. restorative, and get a good nights sleep, you regain 3 spent
hit dice in total.

• Cook food • Repair an item

• Brew drinks • Craft an item Play Music
• Play music • Play a game If you know how to play an instrument, you can attempt
• Tell a story • Relax in solitude to play some music for the group. Roll a Dexterity
(Performance) check to see how well you play.
Success: You perform well and inspire one of your
Cook Food allies. Choose a party member other than yourself or the
If you know how to cook and have the right supplies, you lookout—that character gains a point of inspiration.
can prepare a meal for the group. This requires use of a Failure: You made an embarrassing mistake.
campfire and cooking tools. Expend one use of your
cooking supplies to attempt one of the following actions: Tell a Story
Everyone likes to hear a good story. If you are proficient
• Create rations: You slow-cook and preserve some in Arcana, History, or Religion—or are carrying an
fresh ingredients—usually meat or grains—to create interesting book—you can attempt to tell a captivating
1d4 + 1 new, basic food rations that can be preserved. story to the group. Roll a Charisma (Performance) check.
• Stretch rations: You thin out some basic rations into Success: Your story is well told and inspires an ally.
a simple meal, feeding two people for each ration you Choose a party member other than yourself or the
cook. If cooked successfully, everyone who eats gains lookout—that character gains a point of inspiration.
1d4 + 1 hit points (max. once per day). Failure: You made an embarrassing mistake.
• Cook a hot meal: You cook a hot meal for everyone,
using one ration—or ration substitute—per person. If Repair an Item
cooked successfully, everyone who eats the hot meal If you're proficient with certain tools, you may perform
regains 1 spent hit die (max. once per day). basic repairs on damaged equipment—sharpening a
blunt sword, sewing up a torn robe, hammering out
Before you serve the meal, roll a Wisdom (Survival) some dented armor. You can try to remove one notch
check to see how well you prepared everything. Meals from an item with a successful Intelligence (Tool) check.
spoil after an hour, losing any restorative properties. Success: You successfully remove one notch.
Success: The meal is well made. Failure: You were unable to make the repairs.
Failure: You spoiled the meal and wasted the
ingredients—no one can eat your cooking. Craft an Item
You can spend time crafting simple items—bandages,
Brew Drinks salves, arrows—if you have the right materials and tools.
If you know how to brew drinks and have the right Roll the appropriate check for your specific craft.
supplies, you can prepare some for the group. This Success: You successfully craft your item.
requires a campfire and brewer's kit. Expend one use of Failure: You were unable to craft the item.
your brewing supplies to try one of the following actions:
Play a Game
• Create rations: You distill some impure water If you have a gaming set and know the rules, you can
overnight to create 1d4 + 1 new, drinkable rations. play a game to unwind. Anyone can join in—so long as
• Brew a balm: With a few herbs you turn some basic they're not occupied with another activity—but at least
water rations into a delicious, soothing drink—one one person playing must be proficient in the rules.
ration per two drinks. Everyone who drinks a fresh Everyone who plays can roll an Intelligence (Game)
balm gains 1d4 + 1 hit points (max. once per day). ability check—the highest roll wins.
• Brew a restorative: You turn some basic water Winner: You feel inspired—gain a point of inspiration.
rations into a tasty, hot drink using one ration per Loser: You lost the game.
drink. Everyone who drinks a fresh restorative regains
1 spent hit die (max. once per day). Relax in Solitude
If you prefer to spend some time alone—reading a book,
Before you serve the drinks, roll a Wisdom (Survival) meditating, painting—you can do so. Roll a Wisdom
check to see how well you prepared everything. Your ability check to see if you are able to unwind.
brews lose their restorative properties after an hour. Success: You feel inspired by your seclusion—gain a
Success: The drinks are well made. point of inspiration.
Failure: You spoiled the brew and wasted the Failure: You couldn't relax as something—or someone
ingredients—no one can stomach your drinks. —was irritating you too much.
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 DM: Your campsite is reasonably prepared (one Wearing Armor
failure)—activities will be DC 10. What do you each do Armor, while great for defence, can be uncomfortable to
before sleep? rest in. If you choose to keep your armor on while you
Clanda: Looks like I'm on lookout tonight, so I'll start sleep, roll your sleeping check with disadvantage.
setting few Alarm spells around the perimeter. If you The Lookout
set them off again, Viridian, I'm going to burn you. While the lookout is on active guard duty, they can still
Chansi: I'll cook up a hot meal—we should eat this make a sleeping check—assume that they have a quick
rabbit meat before it spoils. Should be enough for all nap whilst the other party members are still awake
four of us, and easy to make a stew (rolls 17). The lookout rolls their sleeping check with
DM: Soon you have a bubbling pot of hot stew disadvantage, however—it's hard to feel completely
going, Chansi. It smells delicious, and everyone regains
refreshed after a night on watch.
one spent hit die.
Viridian: Great, I'm starving. I'll get my lute out, play a
Packing Up
little background music for us (rolls 11). When you decide to move on, it's time to pack up camp—
DM: Your songs are a fine accompaniment to the put out your campfire, strap on your gear, and get back to
the adventure. This may take a little time, depending on
food, Viridian—who do you inspire? the size and permanency of your camp.
Viridian: How about Clanda?
Clanda: Pff, I'm too busy being on lookout to listen
to your amateur fumblings. Ambushed!
Viridian: Fine, witch. I play one of Chansi's favourites
A warm campfire and the smell of delicious, hot food can
while she cooks; she gains inspiration. attract attention out in the dark wilds—from cruel
Chansi: Play The Wizard's Staff, I love that song. bandits, to hungry bears, to bloodthirsty cultists. If you
Valiant: Meanwhile, I'll make a few bandages from let your guard down, you might find both your sleep and
that old shirt—we're running low on supplies in the your life cut surprisingly short.
healer's kit (rolls 18). If an intruder approaches, the lookout rolls a Wisdom
(Perception) check against the intruder's Stealth:
DM: You tear the shirt into three usable bandages. Success: The lookout is able to detect the intruders
and, if they choose to, rouse the party with enough time
Getting Some Sleep for people to don light armor.
Failure: The lookout—and the rest of the party—are
Sometimes the best way to clear your mind is to shut it caught off-guard and surprised.
down for a while—rest is the best medicine. When you
attempt to sleep, make a sleeping check (Constitution
saving throw) against the Camping Activity DC—if you DM: Valiant, Chansi, and Viridian are asleep. The
are sleeping in a bedroll or tent, you can make the roll forest is silent around you, Clanda, as you stand guard
with advantage. for the night. Silent, except...
Success: Your sleep was undisturbed. Regain 1 spent Clanda: Except...(rolls 18).
hit die (max. once per day).
Failure: You couldn't sleep well, waking up tired. DM: Except you hear a deep, low growl and the
sound of something large pushing through the woods.
A bear, perhaps. And it's coming right for you.
After their activities, the four adventurers make Clanda: Damn it, Chansi, I knew that stew would
sleeping checks against the camping activity DC (10). attract attention. I shake everyone awake, fast.
As each has a bedroll or tent, they roll with advantage.
Valiant, Chansi, and Viridian both roll above 10—
they sleep undisturbed and, once awake, regain 1 False Alerts
spent hit die. Clanda, however, rolls only a 7—she has Out in the dark, it's easy to worry about every shadowed
a frustrating, restless night half-awake in the forest. movement and every distant noise—a cracked twig, a far-
off howl, a whisper on the wind. A nervous lookout
Occasionally, the DM may ask the lookout to make a
Trance Wisdom (Perception) roll to detect a false alarm:
Some races don't sleep as others do—instead, they fall Success: The lookout realises that it's just a false
into a meditative state known as a Trance. While in this alarm and doesn't rouse the party.
state, your character is semi-conscious. You have Failure: The lookout thinks danger approaches and
disadvantage on all Perception rolls, and make a wakes the party unnecessarily. Their sleep is disturbed
sleeping check as normal. for the rest of the night.
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 DM: As you stand watch for the night, Viridian, you
hear a noise in the distance. For a moment, it sounds
Variant: Conditions
like laughter. Roll perception. If you are using the Survival Conditions rules (p69),
Viridian: Eugh, these spooky woods...(rolls 8). some of these camping activities can provide additional
DM: The laughter grows louder. What do you do? benefits and improve certain character conditions:
Viridian: Uuuuuuh I wake everyone up of course— • Eating: If you eat a hot meal, you heal 2 hunger.
I'm not fighting this thing alone. • Drinking: If you drink a restorative, you heal 2 thirst.
DM: You shake everyone awake. After a tense • Sleeping: If you sleep undisturbed, you heal 3 fatigue.
minute, Clanda realises what the sound is—it's just a
barred owl calling out in the night, nothing more. Viridian eats a portion of a hot meal cooked by Chansi.
Clanda: Are you kidding me, Viridian. He regains one spent hit die and heals 2 hunger.

Useful Magic Spells Variant: Stress

Magic can be a great help to travelers crossing the The adventuring life is a stressful business, but a little
dangerous wilds of the world, providing light, heat, and downtime around a roaring fire can help you to unwind.
supplies when needed the most. If you are using the Stress rules (p72), camp activities
Below are some spells that may prove useful during can affect your Stress levels. When you make a camping
your time in camp and some of their potential benefits: activity check, the following also applies to your result:
Alarm • Success: You heal a minor amount of Stress.
When used to protect the camp, this spell grants the • Failure: You gain a minor amount of Stress.
lookout advantage on any perception checks made to
detect intruders.
Valiant tries to create some bandages from an old
Create Bonfire shirt. He rolls 18—a success. He gains 3 bandages and
This spell can be used to generate 1 automatic success heals a minor amount of Stress.
when setting up camp, assuming there is flammable
material around with which to build a long-term fire.
Some camp activities—such as those listed below—have
Create Food & Water additional Stress-related effects depending on whether
One use of this spell can heal 3 hunger and 3 thirst from you succeed or fail.
up to 15 creatures. As a magical consumable, a creature
gains this benefit only once per day. Cook Food / Brew Drinks
If you successfully cook a meal (stretched rations / hot
Create or Destroy Water meal) or brew some drinks (balm / restorative), you heal
One use of this spell can fill up to 5 waterskins (a total of a minor amount of Stress from everyone you serve.
25 water rations). For each spell slot above 1st-level, you
can fill another 5 waterskins. Be the Lookout
If you successfully secure the camp, you heal a minor
Goodberry amount of Stress from everyone. If you fail, however,
A goodberry heals 1 hit point and 1 hunger when eaten. everyone instead gains a minor amount of Stress.
As a magical consumable, a creature gains this benefit In addition, if an intruder slips past your guard during
only once per day. the night, you gain a moderate amount of Stress.
Heroes' Feast Play Music / Tell a Story
One use of this spell can heal 6 hunger and 6 thirst from If you perform well, you heal a minor amount of Stress
up to 12 creatures. As a magical consumable, a creature from everyone that is listening to you perform.
gains this benefit only once per day.
Play a Game
Leomund's Tiny Hut If you win a game, you heal a moderate amount of
When used to protect the camp, this spell grants the Stress. If you lose (or tie), you heal a minor amount.
lookout an automatic success on their activity checks in
addition to its other benefits. Sleeping
If you get some undisturbed sleep, you heal a major
Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound amount of Stress. If your sleep is restless, broken, or
The hound grants you advantage on any perception interrupted by an intruder, you instead gain a moderate
checks made to detect intruders. amount of Stress.
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 26

Long Rest

E
, — Sanctuary
home is where the heart is. A place to put your
feet up, reflect on your recent adventures, and
prepare for adventures yet to come. To begin a long rest, you must be in a sanctuary of some
kind—such as a village, town, or city. Sleeping outside in the
This chapter defines the long rest period and activities wilds or by a dungeon isn't restful enough for a full recovery.
you might pursue during your downtime.

Taking a Long Rest Viridian, Valiant, and Clanda finally reach the gates of
Darrowmore. They're looking forward to a well-earned
A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 1 rest and plan to stay in town for one week.
week long, in which your character performs downtime Between them, they carry 45 gp of recently-
activities and pursues their own interests. This is your recovered treasure from the Elsewood—this rewards
life between adventures—a chance to slow down, explore
the setting, and mingle with NPCs in relative safety. each of them with 150 XP (450 XP total).
Follow these 6 steps for each week of rest: They all choose a comfortable lifestyle for the week
ahead while they pursue their own activities in town:
1. Sell loot: Trade in any loot and treasure—gemstones, Valiant does some charity work at his church, Clanda
paintings, fine goblets—gained on your adventures begins training for her next level up, and Viridian tries
and gain gold and experience.
2. Choose lifestyle: Choose your quality of lifestyle for to sell a sort-of-cursed magic item.
the week—wretched, squalid, poor, modest,
comfortable, wealthy, or aristocratic. You'll usually 1. Sell Loot
need to pay for this upfront.
3. Choose primary activity: Choose your primary If you found any valuables on your adventure—precious
downtime activity and pay any relevant costs. gemstones, golden goblets, fine paintings—you can sell
4. Hear rumors: While resting, your adventuring party them at the start of your long rest.
learns of three rumors. Some of these rumors may be Some valuables may be too exotic for the average
false, or only mostly true—you'll have to investigate merchant to buy—magic items, archaeological tablets,
further to see for yourself. cursed rings—and you'll need to spend your week
5. Perform secondary activities: You can do 2 other searching for a suitable buyer.
small, secondary activities during your week—meet
someone, go shopping, relieve some stress, etc.
6. Settle up: It's the end of the week—gain the result of Viridian has a cursed and not-entirely-lawful dagger he
your primary activity (level up, wages, information, wishes to get rid of—for a small profit. He must spend
etc) and check to see if your wounds and Afflictions a week looking for a buyer on the quiet.
recover. If you have any outstanding debts, settle up.
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 Lifestyle Qualities
Lifestyle Cost per Maximum Starting Hunger Thirst Fatigue
Week (GP) Hit Points Hit Dice
Wretched 0 50% 0 Starving Dehydrated Barely awake
Squalid 0.5 50% 25% Ravenous Dry Very sleepy
Poor 1.5 75% 50% Hungry Thirsty Sleepy
Modest 8 100% 75% Peckish Parched Tired
Comfortable 15 100% 100% Ok Ok Ok
Wealthy 30 110% 100% Well-fed Refreshed Well-rested
Aristocratic 70+ 120% 100% Stuffed Quenched Energised

2. Choose your Lifestyle Viridian must pay 4gp each week to maintain his
Your lifestyle determines the level of comfort you live in modest house, whether he uses it or not. As he prefers
during your week and the types of people you'll be to live in comfortable finery, Viridian rents out the
surrounded by—if you aim to meet nobles and other house to a small family and it now provides an income
aristocrats, you'll need to support an expensive lifestyle.
The Lifestyle Conditions table shows the lifestyle cost of 4gp each week—a small offset to his 15-gp-a-week
for an adventurer in gold pieces per week, and the comfortable lifestyle costs.
condition it leaves you in at the end of the week.
Maximum Hit Points & Hit Dice
After a long trek through the wild Elsewood, Clanda Your lifestyle has a major impact on your physical health.
decides she wants to relax in wealthy comfort—a soft Once you complete a long rest, update your maximum
bed, a hot bath, and a servant to bring fine food and hit points and starting hit dice to match your lifestyle.
pour finer wine.
She finds the most expensive inn in town, pours 30 At the end of her week of wealthy rest, Clanda updates
gold pieces on the bar, and spends the week sipping her conditions and increases her maximum hit points
wine and reading books in peace. to 110% of the normal, unmodified amount.

Renting vs Owned Property

The lifestyle costs above assume that you are renting 3. Pick a Primary Activity
your living quarters—inns and taverns, while convenient During your long rest, you'll have time to pursue a
for travelers, are not cheap. But sometimes a character primary interest. This is the main focus of your week and
comes to own property that offers a particular lifestyle—a something you spend roughly half of each day on, leaving
poor farmhouse, a modest hut, an aristocratic mansion— a quarter-day for sleep and a quarter for miscellaneous
either by buying one, building one, inheriting one, or activity—shopping, eating, basic socialising, etc.
being rewarded with one. You only have time to perform one primary activity per
If you own the property you're staying in, the cost for week. Choose one from the suggestions below, or
that lifestyle quality is halved—however, you still pay the discuss one with your DM.
full expense for any other lifestyle.
• Work for Coin • Training
Viridian has inherited a small but modest house from a
• Work for Renown • Carouse & Socialise
• Spread Rumors • Rest & Relaxation
dead relative. To live a modest lifestyle, Viridian now • Find a Rare Merchant • Volunteer Work
needs to pay only 50% of the normal cost each week • Sell an Exotic Item • Criminal Activity
—a total of 4 gp per week—if he uses the house. • Craft an Item • Run a Business
If he wanted to live a different quality of life—for • Learn a Tool • Perform a Service
example, wealthy or aristocratic—he would still need
• Research • Learn a Language
to pay the full amount for that lifestyle each week.
Activities
If you own property, you must pay 50% of the lifestyle
cost to maintain it each week—whether you use it or not. Specific rules and advice for some primary activities are
If you rent it out to other occupants, it generates an covered in the Dungeon Master's Guide (p128-131) and
Xanathar's Guide to Everything (p123-134).
income of equivalent value instead.
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 Activity Complications 6. Settle Up
Your activity has a small chance of generating a At the end of your week, settle up your debts and reap
complication that may make life more difficult—hurting any rewards from your primary activity. Check to see if
yourself working, offending a lord while carousing, any of your long-term wounds or injuries have healed,
damaging a priceless book while researching. and start preparing for your next adventure.
At the end of each week, roll a d10—on a 1, something
unfortunate happens as a result of your activities. Viridian, Chansi, and Clanda begin to wrap up their
affairs in town. There's a big reward out for the return
While trying to sell his cursed dagger, Viridian rolls a 1 of the necromantic tome, and so—after hunting down
on the Complication check. He attracts some some leads on the old cleric and the dangerous
unwanted attention—a religious merchant who Marrowmaw—the three prepare to leave Darrowmore
threatens to report the tiefling to the guards. Unless, for their next wild adventure.
that is, Viridian performs a small service to the church
and recovers a recently stolen sacred book...
Variant: Stress
4. Hear Three Rumors If you are using the Stress rules, completing a long rest
During a long rest, the party picks up three interesting automatically resets your Stress level to 0. You may also
rumors as they go about their business—adventure pay gold to make an Affliction Removal check if you have
hooks, plot developments, or even misinformation. This not already rolled one this week.
is a good opportunity to flesh out the world and show
some reactions to the party's past adventures.
Random Rumors
During their week in Darrowmore, the party learns of
If you need some ideas for rumors about town, roll on
three rumors around town: the table below or use your own rumor generator.
1. An old cleric stole a necromantic tome and
Random Rumors
disappeared into the Marrowmaw.
2. A griffin was seen flying a few miles south of town. d100 Rumor

3. Three heroes recently left to purge a nearby mimic 01-07 Some wierdo's stealing tombstones from the
graveyard. The dead won't like that.
nest—none have returned.
08-14 There's been a lot of crows around town lately. They
ain't fond at all of clerics, I tells you.
5. Two Secondary Activities 15-21 A young kid went missing while playing out by the
A secondary activity is something that only takes a short well. Best stay away from that well, it's cursed.

amount of time to do, from a few hours to a whole day. 22-28 There's something evil buried beneath this town,
During a week of long rest, you have enough spare and it's taken all my teeth!
time to do two secondary activities. Choose them from 29-35 Two travellers went missing one night, and Old Man
the suggestions below, or discuss one with your DM: Mergo's got two new scarecrows in his field...
36-42 The new neighbours are friendly, but a little weird.
• Meet Someone: Arrange or attend a meeting with a Y'know, I've never seen them out in the sun.
person, group, or faction in town. 43-49 A warlock turned me into a newt! ...I got better.
• Trade Gear: Buy and sell some mundane gear and
equipment from merchants around town. 50-56 Guards arrested a man the other night for trying to
• Investigate Rumor: Spend some time investigating a kill his wife. Mad fool thinks she's a changeling...

rumor to see if it's actually true. 57-63 The local lord's birthday is coming up soon and
• Update Financial Commitments: If you have any there's gonna be a huge party—invite only.
financial commitments—investments, properties, 64-70 There's a giant spider out in the woods. Weird thing
business, etc—you can spend some time making basic is, they say she's guarding a little boy...
changes to them. 71-77 I don't know what the butcher's putting in his new
sausages, but they're delicious. I can't stop eating.
78-84 One of the guards was found dead in his bed the
Viridian wants to do some minor work on his modest other day. He had this awful grin on his face...
home to—eventually—upgrade it to a comfortable
85-91 That farmer's kid that got bit by the wolf—you
lifestyle quality. He spends one secondary activity reckon he's gonna turn at the moon?.
looking for craftsmen to fix the leaking roof. 92-98 I don't trust that new priest, always licking his lips.

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84
 27

Leveling Up

Y active force—making new discoveries, overcoming

great obstacles, and helping to change the world
(for good or for ill). With enough experience, your
character can open up pathways to greater power,
Training Costs
To see how long you need to train per level, and how
much it will cost you, check the Training Time & Costs
table below. These costs don't cover your regular living
knowledge, and influence. expenses—you'll need to cover those separately, so make
Such power comes at a cost, however, requiring time sure to keep enough coin spare.
and effort to unlock. This chapter sets out rules for
training and mentors. Training Time & Costs

Training
Level Total GP per Level Total GP per
Weeks Week Weeks Week
0-1 1 10 10-11 5 94
Once you've gained enough experience, you can begin 1-2 1 15 11-12 6 115
training to improve your abilities and unlock new heights
of power. Through experimentation with your new-found 2-3 1 20 12-13 6 165
knowledge—practicing new techniques, developing new 3-4 2 15 13-14 7 202
spells, channeling new power—you can spend your 4-5 2 20 14-15 7 295
experience points to gain a level.
But training is not easy or cheap. In addition to the 5-6 3 25 15-16 8 370
experience, you'll also need: 6-7 3 35 16-17 8 536
7-8 4 37 17-18 9 687
1. A mentor: someone to help guide you in your craft— 8-9 4 55 18-19 9 990
an old druid, a drunken monk, a retired fighter.
2. Facilities: a place in which to practice your skills—a 9-10 5 64 19-20 10 1,280
training ground, a wizard's tower, a druid's grove.
3. Gold: coin to pay for your training expenses—research You don't have to complete your training in one unbroken
books, exotic components, hirelings, new tools, block—you can pause it to go adventuring and resume
special weapons, extra facilities. your training again from where you left off once you have
some free time.
Time is Money, Friend
Using these training costs will naturally slow down the pace
Leveling Up
of your game world—it will take a character a minimum of Once you've finished your training, you gain a level and
100 weeks and 41,743 gp to train from level 1 to level 20. all its features. Don't use the fixed value for your new hit
Make sure your campaign setting can accommodate this points—roll this using the appropriate die. You may
pace so that your characters have enough downtime to train. choose your other leveling perks as usual.
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 Valiant returns to Darrowmore with enough XP to Mentor Level Limitations
being leveling up to 4th-level—a process that will cost
As a DM, you may decide that a mentor can only train a
him 30 gp and take 2 full weeks to complete. character up to a particular level—beyond this, a new, more
After completing two weeks of study with Bishop experienced mentor will have to be found.
Vendicus at Unity Spire, Valiant—now 4th-level—joins This is a good way to motivate characters to travel around
your world. But be clear when a mentor has level restrictions
Clanda and Chansi on an expedition to the Deepmarsh. —characters should have a chance to find a replacement.

Variant: Faster Training Mentor Responses

If your campaign moves at a faster pace, use the Faster If you're unsure how a mentor may respond to a
Training variant and reduce the training time character's request for training, roll on the Mentor
requirement from weeks to days. The gold costings, Reponses table to see if they refuse and for what reason.
likewise, are changed from per week to per day.
With this variant, training from 3rd-level to 4th-level Mentor Responses
takes 2 days instead of 2 weeks—but still costs the
character a total of 30 gp to complete. d12 Response
01-06 Yes, I will train you.

Mentors 07 No, I'm far too busy with something.

08 No, you must first prove yourself.
A mentor is someone who helps your character to grow
and develop. While they may not be as powerful or 09 No, I gave that up a long time ago...

influential as you, they have both expertise and insight 10 No, I don't trust you.
that can help unlock your character's true potential. 11 No, my secrets are my own.
12 No, I can't without my equipment.
Getting a Mentor
First, you must find a mentor. This is usually an NPC If an NPC refuses to mentor a character, there may be an
related to your class in some fashion—often old or retired opportunity to change their mind. Depending on the
adventurers looking to pass on their wisdom to a new circumstances, this could require a social skill challenge,
generation (or whoever has coin to spare). Asking a combat, a bribe, or an adventure to resolve.
around town is a good start, though some mentors may
live in dangerous or inaccessible areas. Absent Mentors
Once you have found someone, you then need to
convince them that you should be trained. This may not Sometimes, a mentor is not around when you need them
always be straight-forward—mentors are NPCs and, like —they might be travelling out of town, or pre-occupied
all NPCs, they have wants and needs: with important business, or sick, or even dead. Like all
NPCs, mentors have lives to lead. You can't train without
• Magister Ilirio has had his spellbook stolen by the a mentor, so keep an eye on their schedule.
Thieves Guild—he needs it returned.
• Prell's wife lies ill with a mysterious sickness—Prell Variant: Locations
wants her wife cured before she can focus on training.
• Ilmarin doesn't like strangers, and doesn't like you. If your campaign setting doesn't put a particular focus on
NPCs, mentors may not be suitable for your game—
Whatever the reason, you'll need to find a way to get this consider using locations instead.
NPC on your side before they will become a mentor. Like mentors, locations allow characters to train and
level up—and as places in the world, they can be the
setting of small adventures or quest hooks.
DM: The old bard sits alone at the bar, hunched over
an empty mug. What do you do?
Viridian: I join him at the bar, excited. "Damarast The small town of West Drenvil features an old,
Vermost, you're a legend in these parts!" disused mage tower. Though in disrepair, the tower
DM: The old man looks aside at you and nods. itself has a few basic facilities and spellbooks—
"Once," he says quietly, "in ages past". enough for any wizard or sorcerer to use in their
Viridian: I need your help, old man. I can't make training as they level up from 2nd-level to 5th-level.
sense of the songs in my head—I need your wisdom. Rumor has it that a dangerous wraith haunts the old
DM: The bard looks down at his hands, both crippled tower—a wraith that will need to be dealt with first
with age. "I can't. I gave up that life a long time ago." before any serious study can begin.

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86
 APPENDICIES
The Extras

A Random Tables p88

p88
A collection of random tables.

B FAQ p92
p92
Frequently asked questions.

C Sheets & Trackers p95

p95
Character sheets, trackers, and reference pages.

D What Next? p112

p112
Find other Giffyglyph material and supplements.
 A

Random Tables
Proficiencies Language, Basic Instrument (C)
41-50 Lute
Features
01-12 Common
Artisan's Tools 13-24 Dwarvish 51-60 Lyre Favoured Enemy
61-70 Horn 01-07 Aberrations
01-05 Alchemist's suppl… 25-36 Elvish
71-80 Pan Flute 08-14 Beasts
06-10 Brewer's supplies 37-48 Giant
81-90 Shawm 15-21 Celestials
11-15 Calligrapher's sup… 49-60 Gnomish
91-00 Viol 22-28 Constructs
16-20 Carpenter's tools
61-72 Goblin
21-25 Cartographer's to… 29-35 Dragons
73-84 Halfling Skills 36-42 Elementals
26-30 Cobbler's tools
85-96 Orc 43-49 Fey
31-35 Cook's utensils 01-05 Acrobatics
50-56 Fiends
36-40 Glassblower's tools 06-10 Animal Handling
41-45 Jeweler's tools
Language, Exotic 11-15 Arcana
57-63 Giants
64-70 Humanoids
46-50 Leatherworker tools 01-12 Abyssal 16-20 Athletics
71-77 Monstrosities
51-55 Mason's tools 13-24 Celestial 21-25 Deception
78-84 Oozes
56-60 Painter's tools 25-36 Draconic 26-30 History
85-91 Plants
61-65 Potter's tools 37-48 Deep Speech 31-35 Insight
92-98 Undead
66-70 Smith's tools 49-60 Infernal 36-40 Intimidation

71-75 Tinker's tools 61-72 Primordial 41-45 Investigation

Natural Explorer
76-80 Weaver's tools 73-84 Sylvan 46-50 Medicine
51-55 Nature 01-12 Arctic
81-85 Woodcarver's tools 85-96 Undercommon
56-60 Perception 13-24 Coast

61-65 Performance 25-36 Desert

Gaming Set Instrument
66-70 Persuasion 37-48 Forest
01-25 Dice 01-10 Bagpipes
71-75 Religion 49-60 Grassland
26-50 Dragonchess 11-20 Drum 61-72 Mountain
76-80 Sleight of Hand
51-75 Playing cards 21-30 Dulcimer 81-85 Stealth 73-84 Swamp
76-00 Three-Dragon Ante 31-40 Flute 86-90 Survival 85-96 Underdark

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 Draconic Ancestry Druid Rogue Bard, Cantrips (C)
01-10 Black 01-12 Arcana 01-09 Acrobatics 33-40 Mage Hand
11-20 Blue 13-24 Animal Handling 10-18 Athletics 41-48 Mending
21-30 Brass 25-36 Insight 19-27 Deception
49-56 Message
31-40 Bronze 37-48 Medicine 28-36 Insight
57-64 Minor Illusion
41-50 Copper 37-45 Intimidation
49-60 Nature
46-54 Investigation 65-72 Prestidigitation
51-60 Gold
61-72 Perception
61-70 Green 55-63 Perception 73-80 Thunderclap
73-84 Religion
71-80 Red 64-72 Performance 81-88 True Strike
85-96 Survival
81-90 Silver 73-81 Persuasion
89-96 Vicious Mockery
91-00 White 82-90 Sleight of Hand
Fighter 91-99 Stealth
Bard, 1st Level
Dwarven Tools 01-12 Acrobatics
01-04 Animal Friendship
13-24 Animal Handling Sorcerer
01-33 Smith's tools 05-08 Bane
25-36 Athletics 01-16 Arcana
34-66 Brewer's supplies 09-12 Charm Person
37-48 History 17-32 Deception
67-99 Mason's tools 13-16 Comprehend Lan…
49-60 Insight 33-48 Insight
17-20 Cure Wounds
61-72 Intimidation
Class Skills
49-64 Intimidation
21-24 Detect Magic
73-84 Perception 65-80 Persuasion
25-28 Disguise Self
85-96 Survival 81-96 Religion
Barbarian 29-32 Dissonant Whispers
33-36 Earth Tremor
01-16 Animal Handling
Monk Warlock 37-40 Faerie Fire
17-32 Athletics
01-16 Acrobatics 01-14 Arcana 41-44 Feather Fall
33-48 Intimidation
17-32 Athletics 15-28 Deception 45-48 Healing Word
49-64 Nature
33-48 History 29-42 History 49-52 Heroism
65-80 Perception
49-64 Insight 43-56 Intimidation 53-56 Identify
81-96 Survival
65-80 Religion 57-70 Investigation 57-60 Illusory Script
81-96 Stealth 71-84 Nature 61-64 Longstrider
Cleric 85-98 Religion
65-68 Silent Image
01-20 History Paladin 69-72 Sleep
21-40 Insight Wizard 73-76 Speak with Animals
01-16 Athletics
41-60 Medicine 01-16 Arcana 77-80 Tasha's Hideous L…
17-32 Insight
61-80 Persuasion 17-32 History 81-84 Thunderwave
33-48 Intimidation
81-00 Religion 33-48 Insight 85-88 Unseen Servant
49-64 Medicine
65-80 Persuasion 49-64 Investigation
Cleric, Knowledge 81-96 Religion 65-80 Medicine Cleric, Cantrips
81-96 Religion
01-25 Arcana 01-11 Guidance

26-50 History Ranger 12-22 Light

51-75 Nature 01-12 Animal Handling Spells 23-33 Mending

76-00 Religion 13-24 Athletics 34-44 Resistance

25-36 Insight Bard, Cantrips 45-55 Sacred Flame
37-48 Investigation
Cleric, Nature 01-08 Blade Ward 56-66 Spare the Dying
49-60 Nature
09-16 Dancing Lights 67-77 Thaumaturgy
01-33 Animal Handling 61-72 Perception
34-66 Nature 17-24 Friends 78-88 Toll the Dead
73-84 Stealth
67-99 Survival 85-96 Survival 25-32 Light 89-99 Word of Radiance

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 Cleric, 1st Level Druid, 1st Level (C) Ranger, 1st Level (C) Sorcerer, 1st Level (C)
01-06 Bane 29-32 Detect Poison & … 61-65 Jump 49-52 False Life
07-12 Bless 33-36 Earth Tremor 66-70 Longstrider 53-56 Feather Fall
13-18 Ceremony 37-40 Entangle 71-75 Snare 57-60 Fog Cloud
19-24 Command 41-44 Faerie Fire 76-80 Speak with Animals 61-64 Ice Knife
25-30 Create or Destroy … 45-48 Fog Cloud 65-68 Jump
81-85 Zephyr Strike
31-36 Cure Wounds 49-52 Goodberry 69-72 Mage Armor
37-42 Detect Evil & Good 53-56 Healing Word 73-76 Magic Missile
Sorcerer, Cantrips
43-48 Detect Magic 57-60 Ice Knife 77-80 Ray of Sickness
61-64 Jump 01-04 Acid Splash
49-54 Detect Poison & … 81-84 Shield
65-68 Longstrider 05-08 Blade Ward
55-60 Guiding Bolt 85-88 Silent Image
69-72 Purify Food & Drink 09-12 Chill Touch
61-66 Healing Word 89-92 Sleep
73-76 Snare 13-16 Control Flames
67-72 Inflict Wounds 93-96 Thunderwave
77-80 Speak with Animals 17-20 Create Bonfire
73-78 Protection from E… 97-00 Witch Bolt
81-84 Thunderwave 21-24 Dancing Lights
79-84 Purify Food & Drink
25-28 Fire Bolt
85-90 Sanctuary Warlock, Cantrips
29-32 Friends
91-96 Shield of Faith Paladin, 1st Level
33-36 Frostbite 01-06 Blade Ward
01-06 Bless
37-40 Gust 07-12 Chill Touch
Druid, Cantrips 07-12 Ceremony
41-44 Infestation 13-18 Create Bonfire
01-05 Control Flames 13-18 Command
45-48 Light 19-24 Eldritch Blast
19-24 Compelled Duel
06-10 Create Bonfire 49-52 Mage Hand 25-30 Friends
25-30 Cure Wounds
11-15 Druidcraft 53-56 Mending 31-36 Frostbite
31-36 Detect Evil & Good
16-20 Frostbite 57-60 Message 37-42 Infestation
37-42 Detect Magic
21-25 Guidance 61-64 Minor Illusion
43-48 Mage Hand
43-48 Detect Poison & …
26-30 Gust 65-68 Mold Earth
49-54 Divine Favour 49-54 Magic Stone
31-35 Infestation 69-72 Poison Spray
55-60 Heroism 55-60 Minor Illusion
36-40 Magic Stone 73-76 Prestidigitation
61-66 Protection from E… 61-66 Poison Spray
41-45 Mending 77-80 Ray of Frost
67-72 Purify Food & Drink 81-84 Shape Water 67-72 Prestidigitation
46-50 Mold Earth
73-78 Searing Smite 85-88 Shocking Grasp 73-78 Thunderclap
51-55 Poison Spray
79-84 Shield of Faith 89-92 True Strike 79-84 Toll the Dead
56-60 Primal Savagery
85-90 Thunderous Smite 93-96 Thunderclap 85-90 True Strike
61-65 Produce Flame
91-96 Wrathful Smite
66-70 Resistance
71-75 Shape Water Sorcerer, 1st Level Warlock, 1st Level
Ranger, 1st Level
76-80 Shillelagh 01-04 Absorb Elements 01-08 Armor of Agathys
81-85 Thorn Whip 01-05 Absorb Elements 05-08 Burning Hands 09-16 Arms of Hadar
06-10 Alarm
86-90 Thunderclap 09-12 Catapult 17-24 Charm Person
11-15 Animal Friendship
13-16 Charm Person 25-32 Comprehend Lan…
16-20 Beast Bond
Druid, 1st Level 17-20 Chaos Bolt 33-40 Cause Fear
21-25 Cure Wounds
01-04 Absorb Elements 21-24 Chromatic Orb 41-48 Expeditious Retreat
26-30 Detect Magic
05-08 Animal Friendship 25-28 Color Spray 49-56 Hellish Rebuke
31-35 Detect Poison & …
09-12 Beast Bond 36-40 Ensaring Strike 29-32 Comprehend Lan… 57-64 Hex
13-16 Charm Person 41-45 Fog Cloud 33-36 Detect Magic 65-72 Illusory Script
17-20 Create or Destroy … 46-50 Goodberry 37-40 Disguise Self 73-80 Protection from E…
21-24 Cure Wounds 51-55 Hail of Thorns 41-44 Earth Tremor 81-88 Unseen Servant
25-28 Detect Magic 56-60 Hunter's Mark 45-48 Expeditious Retreat 89-96 Witch Bolt

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 Wizard, Cantrips Wizard, 1st Level (C) CR 1/8 CR 1
01-04 Acid Splash 39-40 Identify 01-09 Blood Hawk 01-09 Brown Bear
05-08 Blade Ward 41-42 Illusory Script 10-18 Camel 10-18 Deinonychus
09-12 Chill Touch 43-44 Jump 19-27 Flying Snake 19-27 Dire Wolf
13-16 Control Flames 45-46 Mage Armor
28-36 Giant Crab 28-36 Giant Eagle
17-20 Create Bonfire 47-48 Magic Missile
37-45 Giant Rat 37-45 Giant Hyena
21-24 Dancing Lights 49-50 Protection from E…
25-28 Fire Bolt 46-54 Giant Weasel 46-54 Giant Octopus
51-52 Ray of Sickness
29-32 Friends 55-63 Mastiff 55-63 Giant Spider
53-54 Shield
33-36 Frostbite 55-56 Silent Image 64-72 Mule 64-72 Giant Toad
37-40 Gust 57-58 Sleep 73-81 Poisonous Snake 73-81 Giant Vulture
41-44 Infestation 59-60 Snare 82-90 Pony 82-90 Lion
45-48 Light 61-62 Tasha's Hideous L… 91-99 Stirge 91-99 Tiger
49-52 Mage Hand
63-64 Tenser's Floating …
53-56 Mending
65-66 Thunderwave
57-60 Message
CR 1/4 CR 2
67-68 Unseen Servant
61-64 Minor Illusion 01-05 Axe Beak 01-09 Allosaurus
69-70 Witch Bolt
65-68 Mold Earth 06-10 Boar 10-18 Aurochs
69-72 Poison Spray 11-15 Constrictor Snake 19-27 Giant Boar
73-76 Prestidigitation Wild Shape 16-20 Cow 28-36 Giant Constrictor …
77-80 Ray of Frost 21-25 Dimetrodon 37-45 Giant Elk
81-84 Shape Water CR 0 26-30 Draft Horse
46-54 Hunter Shark
85-88 Shocking Grasp 55-63 Plesiosaurus
01-04 Baboon 31-35 Elk
89-92 Thunderclap 64-72 Polar Bear
05-08 Badger 36-40 Giant Badger
93-96 Toll the Dead 73-81 Rhinoceros
09-12 Bat 41-45 Giant Bat
97-00 True Strike 82-90 Quetzalcoatlus
13-16 Cat 46-50 Giant Frog
91-99 Saber-toothed Tiger
17-20 Crab 51-55 Giant Lizard
Wizard, 1st Level 21-24 Cranium Rat 56-60 Giant Owl
CR 3
01-02 Absorb Elements 25-28 Deer 61-65 Giant Poisonous …
03-04 Alarm 29-32 Eagle 01-33 Ankylosaurus
66-70 Giant Wolf Spider
05-06 Burning Hands 33-36 Frog 34-66 Giant Scorpion
71-75 Hadrosaurus
07-08 Catapult 37-40 Giant Fire Beetle 67-99 Killer Whale
76-80 Panther
09-10 Cause Fear 41-44 Goat
81-85 Pteranodon
11-12 Charm Person 45-48 Hawk CR 4
86-90 Riding Horse
13-14 Chromatic Orb 49-52 Hyena 01-50 Elephant
91-95 Velociraptor
15-16 Color Spray 53-56 Jackal
96-00 Wolf 51-00 Stegosaurus
17-18 Comprehend Lan… 57-60 Lizard
19-20 Detect Magic 61-64 Octopus
CR 1/2 CR 5
21-22 Disguise Self 65-68 Owl
69-72 Quipper 01-12 Ape 01-25 Brontosaurus
23-24 Earth Tremor
25-26 Expeditious Retreat 73-76 Rat 13-24 Black Bear 26-50 Giant Crocodile
27-28 False Life 77-80 Raven 25-36 Crocodile 51-75 Giant Shark
29-30 Feather Fall 81-84 Scorpion 37-48 Giant Goat
76-00 Triceratops
31-32 Find Familiar 85-88 Sea Horse 49-60 Giant Sea Horse
33-34 Fog Cloud 89-92 Spider 61-72 Giant Wasp
CR 6
35-36 Grease 93-96 Vulture 73-84 Reef Shark
37-38 Ice Knife 97-00 Weasel 85-96 Warhorse 01-00 Mammoth

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91
 B

FAQ

T questions regarding Darker Dungeons. If your

question isn't answered here, do contact me.
Random characters?
I find random character generation exciting—I like not
knowing what the character is until I've finished
unwrapping it. There's no optimising or strategising, just
Is this official material? roll a complete person and try to keep them alive.
No. This an unofficial compilation of house-rules for A fun by-product is that this ends up creating a much
D&D 5e—rules that can be used to supplement material wider variety of characters at the table, as it prevents
found in the PHB and DMG. players falling into familiar tropes. Goliath barbarian?
Hmm. Goliath wizard? Now you have my attention.
Why make this? But I might get bad stats...
I enjoy D&D, but—like all DM's—I like to run games my Sure you might. But it's much more likely that you won't.
way. That means focusing on themes of exploration, Live a little—roll and play the hand you're dealt. If it's a
danger, survival, and player-driven adventure. I think bad hand, play smarter and go the distance.
vanilla 5e is weak in some of these areas, so I've added Note: This is something the group should agree on
features over time to expand on these themes. before anyone rolls for character stats. Maybe you all
I wrote this handbook to compile all my house rules agree to use the result, no takebacks? Or maybe you all
together in one place—it means I can get my rules peer- agree to reroll if anyone gets under X total points?
reviewed, and it helps players understand exactly the Whatever the case, everyone should agree on the rules
type of game I like to run so that there's no confusion. before rolls are made.
Why not play/mod something else? But I hate random generation...
My group plays 5e predominantly, so it's easier to modify If you hate the idea of random generation, absolutely
a system we're already enjoying. This way, we can also don't use it at your table. Or try randomising only small
dip into all the other 5e homebrew lying around. Plus, I parts of character creation—race and class, for example,
enjoy doing this kind of thing. but not your ability scores.
You don't always have to randomise a whole character
There are a lot of changes... —sometimes, just randomising one aspect can be a fun
There's a lot here, but you don't have to use it all at once exercise in itself.
—take whichever bits work best for your table and leave
the rest. Consider trying out just a couple of features at a But this method is stupid because of X...
time if you're unsure. This is how I would randomly create a character, but feel
Note: While I've tried to write Darker Dungeons free to use your own variants. Want to use 4d6? Want to
features to be modular, this hasn't always been possible. roll class before background? Want to roll twice for race
I'm in the process of decoupling these, but keep an eye and pick between the two? Go ahead and do whatever's
out for interlink between modules you do/don't select. best for your table.
appendix b: faq patreon.com/giffyglyph | /r/darkerdungeons5e
92
What are Usage Dice? Traditionally:
Some features use a mechanic known as Usage Dice • The orc needs to roll 12 or more (45% chance) to save
(taken from the Black Hack rpg). Whenever you use a against spellcasting DC 13.
limited consumable (such as ammunition), you roll a • Clanda's chance to succeed: 55%.
usage die—if your roll is a 1 or 2 then the usage die
shrinks one step. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a d4, the With UA's +11/-8:
item is down to its very last use.
• The orc's saving throw becomes 12 (1 + 11).
• Clanda's spellcasting DC becomes 5 (13 - 8).
d20 → d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4 → 1 • Clanda needs to roll 7 or more (70% chance) to hit a
saving throw of 12.
The larger the starting usage die, the more uses you'll get • Clanda's chance to succeed: 70%.
out of an item before it expires. The Usage Dice table
shows the average number of times you can expect to But, with a static +22:
roll a usage die before it's down to the very last use.
• The orc's saving throw becomes 23 (1 + 22).
Usage Dice • Clanda's spellcasting DC remains 13.
• Clanda needs to roll 10 or more (55% chance) to hit a
Starting Average Uses Starting Average Uses saving throw of 23.
Size Size • Clanda's chance to succeed: 55%.
d20 30 d8 9
d12 20 d6 5
As we can see, the UA modifiers make Clanda 15% more
likely to succeed vs the RAW rules, whereas the static
d10 14 d4 2 +22 retains the same chance of success.
But I like to roll attacks...
Why use Active Defence? That's fine. If you prefer the traditional system, stick with
Instead of rolling attacks against the players, I like letting it—I'm not going to come in and take away your DM dice.
players roll to defend because:
1. I don't care about dice: I'm a lazy DM and I like to Why use Active Initiative?
shunt more responsibility onto players when possible. Instead of the standard turn-order/queue-based initiative,
Players love rolling dice, so it's a win/win for me. I like to use Active Initiative for four main reasons:
2. It's easy: There's no complicated math or monster
changes—just a static +22 modifier on the DM's side. 1. Better teamwork: Players can work together to chain
3. It keeps players engaged: It makes players pay more their actions into big combo-attacks, using more
attention to what's going on and keeps them engaged elaborate tactics than they can do under standard
—they're not passively watching the DM roll five initiative tracking.
attacks, they're actively trying to avoid being hit. This 2. More communication: Players talk more when they
ends up being much more dramatic for everyone. have a clear opportunity to work together. More
4. Improves player agency: It puts a character's fate in communication makes for a better game, IME.
their own hands. If a character gets critically hit, I 3. More attentive players: Players aren't stuck waiting
don't have to feel bad because they did the roll. for their turn to come up, they're actively watching for
5. It's fast: It doesn't slow the round down and you can opportunities to jump in and act.
quickly attack multiple characters at once. 4. It's easy: No dice or math—just say who goes next.
6. Players don't change any numbers: There's no need
to change any numbers by default on a character This has worked out well at my table—but it's not for
sheet—AC and spellcasting DC stay exactly the same. everyone. Some people prefer the familiarity of turn-
based initiative, and that's ok.
Active Defence has worked out well at my table, and I
definitely recommend trying it out at least once. Does this give players an advantage?
Yes, players have a slight edge because it's easier to
Is the math correct? chain actions together. But in my experience that's a
I use a static +22 modifier and not the +11/-8 modifiers good thing—players should be rewarded for working
found in the original Unearthed Arcana article. This is together, and it means the DM can risk using even more
because the UA article is wrong and actually makes the dangerous monsters.
players far more likely to succeed in their attacks.
As an example, let's run through a scenario where When do I get my turn?
Clanda is attacking an orc using Acid Orb. Clanda has a You get your turn when you win the initiative, someone
spellcasting DC of 13 and the orc has a Dexterity saving passes over to you, you spend an inspiration point to
throw bonus of 1. interrupt, or you take damage and then interrupt.
patreon.com/giffyglyph | /r/darkerdungeons5e appendix b: faq
93
 Why use week-long rests? Safe Long Rests: To take an 8-hour long rest, you must
Changing long rests from 8 hours to a week is one of the be in a sanctuary of some kind—such as a village,
simplest—yet most effective—ways of changing the tone town, or city. Sleeping outside in the wilds isn't restful
of your game. enough for your character to recharge their abilities.
1. Fighters: Fighters are now much more valuable to a
party. High-level magic becomes a precious resource, Did you change the art?
so having a fighter around with Second Wind is
extremely useful. Fighters should be great at fighting, Yes, as of v1.6. Unfortunately, I didn't own the artwork
and a week-long rest period helps highlight this. that I was using before and it wasn't viable to keep using
2. Resources: Equipment is now much more important. that art in the long-term. Instead, I'm now trying to
Healing spells are rare—and casters can't change their finalise a consistent look that I can apply to all my work.
prepared spells quickly—so characters really need to In the future I may look into commissioning custom
think about healing kits, potions, tools, supplies, etc. artwork, but it's good to have a general style that doesn't
3. Risk: Combat is now always a risk. Even the smallest depend on artwork—it means I can iterate on documents
fight has a chance of draining valuable supplies—hit a little faster, which is a big help to me.
dice, spell slots, food and water, etc. Combat has real
consequences that can't be instantly recovered after a Did you use Homebrewery?
single night's sleep.
4. Drama: Long-distance travel now has drama. No—this document was created using my own custom
Characters need to plan ahead so that their resources HTML/CSS/JS framework, not Homebrewery or GM
and spell-slots can last the whole trip, there and back Binder. Unfortunately, that means I (currently) don't have
again—you can't just burn through all your powerful any common markdown to share for you to use in your
spells in one day, sleep outside the dungeon to own Homebrewery posts.
recover, then charge in fully-loaded.
5. Time: World-pacing is much more realistic. Being Can I copy bits of this?
forced to spend a week recovering gives the world
time to react to what the characters are doing—NPCs Feel free to reference parts of this handbook in your own
and the world in general have an opportunity to free homebrew if you like, with appropriate credit.
change and develop. However, please don't replicate it wholesale, or include
6. Investment: Players become naturally invested in the my work in any for-sale variant.
world. When recovery is hard, players start to think
about the landscape—they'll hunt for shortcuts, chase Can I buy a printed version?
rare teleportation circles, and spend time building
strongholds out in the wilds so they have a place to Not at the moment, no. I'm currently looking into this as
rest without having to trek all the way back to town. a few people have requested a print copy. In the
7. Rituals: Rituals are now important—when spell-slots meantime, this project (and most of my other work) is
are hard to recover, rituals are an extremely valuable released on Pay-What-You-Want terms.
means of casting magic out in the wild without If this supplement has helped out your game and
burning important resources. you'd like to support my work:
I highly recommend that, if you change only one thing for • Patreon: Become a Patron (patreon.com/giffyglyph)
your game, you change the long rest period. It's the to support this and my other projects.
smallest change with the biggest impact. • Ko-fi: My Ko-fi page (ko-fi.com/giffyglyph) is always
open to kind, one-off donations.
Doesn't this penalise X class? • Spread the Word: If you've enjoyed my work, a
No, because we're not changing the expected number of tweet/like/review/etc would be much appreciated.
encounters per adventure—the DM should still aim for
the normal 6-8 encounters per long rest as mentioned in
the DMG (p84). Become a Patron
Changing the long-rest period means there is a longer
recovery period at the end of an adventure, and that
players have to more careful with their resources over Buy me a Coffee
the 8 encounters to ensure they don't run out too early—
but it does not mean characters with long-rest abilities
are unfairly handicapped. Contact Me
Is there a compromise? Thanks for reading this! If you have any questions or
If your players just aren't comfortable with a week-long feedback, you can DM me at /u/giffyglyph or @giffyglyph,
rest, or you want to keep your game timeline moving at a email me at [email protected], or follow my other
brisk pace, try using Safe Long Rests instead. assorted works at www.giffyglyph.com. Thanks for reading!

appendix b: faq patreon.com/giffyglyph | /r/darkerdungeons5e

94
 C

Sheets & Trackers

T sheet templates, trackers, and reference pages to

help you use this supplement in your campaign.
Spellbook
A full page spellbook with space for more details of your
spell collection. Use this sheet if you want to write out
Character Sheets your spell powers in greater detail.
Included with this supplement is a new 4-page character
sheet which contains trackers for some features—such
as fate, lingering wounds, stress, and survival conditions.
Time Tracker
Use the Time Tracker calendar pages to keep a log of
• Page 1: Your character's core details. This page your adventures and exploits. Included are three pages: a
includes space for you to write in some unique skills day tracker, a week tracker, and a month tracker.
or limited class features/resources—spell points, These calendars assume a simple 24-hour daily cycle
rages, wild shapes, etc. and may require modification if your campaign world
• Page 2: Your character's personality and equipment. runs on a different clock.
This page includes blocks and trackers to help you
manage your inventory and gear—including support
for ammunition die and inventory slots.
• Page 3: Your character's condition and status. This
Journey Tracker
page contains some exclusive Darker Dungeons If you're taking a long journey, use the Journey Tracker to
features—wounds/injuries, stress, and survival keep a neat record of what happened on the way.
conditions—as well as exhaustion and condition
trackers. This page is optional, depending on your
campaign rules.
• Page 4: Your character's magic spells. This page is
Quick Reference
only required if you are a spell caster. The Quick Reference compresses many of the core rules
in this supplement into a handy three-page resource. Use
this if you want to keep a rules shortcut close to hand.
Equipment Tracker
Campaign Compatibility
A full page equipment tracker for players that need a
little extra space. Use this to expand your existing These sheets have been created with the Darker Dungeons
inventory or to track equipment stored somewhere else. ruleset in mind, but you may find them suitable for other
Alternatively, if you prefer to track your equipment games and campaigns—even those that don't use any of this
using a Diablo-style grid layout, use the two grid-focused supplement's features. Mix-and-match these sheets as best
equipment sheets with the included sheet of cut-out tiles. suits your own particular game.

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95
 CLASS & LEVEL BACKGROUND

RACE ALIGNMENT

STRENGTH NORMAL OTHER

PROFICIENCY BONUS

ARMOR
SAVING THROWS CLASS RESISTANCES & IMMUNITIES INITIATIVE SPEED
STR INT
DEX WIS CURRENT TEMPORARY EXPERIENCE

DEXTERITY CON CHA

MAX
HP TRAINING
HIT POINTS

TOTAL USED TOTAL USED

FATE
d6 d10

SKILLS d8 d12
CONSTITUTION DEATH SAVE UNARMORED
HIT DICE FAILURES INSPIRATION
AC
Acrobatics
Animal Handling
Arcana
Athletics
Deception

INTELLIGENCE History SPELLCASTING SPELL SAVE SPELL ATTACK

ABILITY DC BONUS
Insight
Intimidation
ACTIONS ATTACKS & SPELLCASTING
Investigation
ACTION TYPE ATTACK TO HIT DAMAGE & TYPE
Medicine
Nature
Perception
WISDOM
Performance
Persuasion
Religion
Sleight of Hand
Stealth
Survival
CHARISMA
FEATURES & TRAITS

LEVEL FEATURE/TRAIT DETAILS

PROFICIENCIES & LANGUAGES

Armor: Light Medium Heavy Shield

Weapons: Simple Martial

PASSIVE
PERCEPTION SENSES

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 Age
Height
Weight
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Distinguishing Feature
Motivation

Habit

DETAILS IDEALS

APPEARANCE FAMILY BONDS

MEMORIES

PERSONAL QUEST FLAWS

ADDITIONAL NOTES

NAME 5 4 3 2 1 NAME 20 12 10 8 6 4 1
RATIONS COPPER

WATERSKIN SILVER

INVENTORY SLOTS GOLD

ITEM CHARGES USAGE & AMMUNITION DIE

EQUIPMENT

SLOT ITEM QUANTITY NOTCHES SLOT ITEM QUANTITY NOTCHES

1 16
2 17
3 18
4 19
5 20
6 21
7 22
8 23
9 24
10 25
11 26
12 27
13 28
14 29
15 30

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 CONDITIONS
EXHAUSTION 20 Gain a new Affliction
30 Gain a new Affliction BLINDED
LEVEL EFFECT
35 Gain a new Affliction You can't see and automatically fail any ability check that
1 Disadvantage on Ability Checks requires sight. Attack rolls against you have advantage, and
40 Hit your Breaking Point
2 Speed halved STRESS BREAKING POINTS your Attack rolls have disadvantage.
3 Disadvantage on Attack rolls and Saving Throws CHARMED
4 Hit point maximum halved You can't Attack the charmer or target the charmer with
AFFLICTIONS
harmful Abilities or magical Effects. The charmer has
5 Speed reduced to 0
NAME EFFECT advantage on any ability check to interact socially you.
6 Death
Fearful Disadvantage: WIS checks/saves DEAFENED
Lethargic +1 exhaustion until removed You can't hear and automatically fail any ability check that
DETAIL TREATED Masochistic Disadvantage: CON checks/saves requires hearing.

Irrational Disadvantage: INT checks/saves DYING

You are incapacitated, can't move, and can speak only two
Paranoid Speed is halved
words per round. You fall prone and drop whatever you're
Selfish Disadvantage: CHA checks/saves holding. You automatically fail Strength and Dexterity Saving
Panic Disadvantage: DEX checks/saves Throws. Attack rolls against you have advantage. Any Attacks
Hopelessness Disadvantage: STR checks/saves that hit you are criticals if the attacker is within 5 ft of you.

Mania Disadvantage: attack rolls FRIGHTENED

WOUNDS You have disadvantage on Ability Checks and Attack rolls
Anxiety Disadvantage: Stress checks
while the source of its fear is within your line of sight. You
Hypochondria Hit point maximum is halved can't willingly move closer to the source of your fear.
DETAIL TREATED
Narcissistic Disadvantage: ability checks GRAPPLED
Powerful +2 to all damage rolls Your speed becomes 0, and you can't benefit from any bonus
Focused +2 to all attack rolls to its speed. The condition ends if the Grappler is
incapacitated. The condition also ends if an effect removes
Stalwart +2 AC
you from the reach of the Grappler or Grappling effect.
Acute Advantage: INT checks/saves
INCAPACITATED
Perceptive Advantage: WIS checks/saves You can't take Actions or reactions.
PERMANENT INJURIES Courageous Advantage: CHA checks/saves INVISIBLE
You are impossible to see without the aid of magic or a
Special sense. For the purpose of Hiding, you are heavily
SURVIVAL CONDITIONS
obscured. Your location can be detected by any noise you
HUNGER THIRST FATIGUE TEMPERATURE EFFECT make or any tracks you leave. Attack rolls against you have
Stuffed Quenched Energised Perfect -1 Exhaustion disadvantage, and your Attack rolls have advantage.

Well-fed Refreshed Well-rested Comfortable PARALYZED

You are incapacitated and can't move or speak. You
Ok Ok Ok Ok
automatically fails Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws.
Peckish Parched Tired Noticeable Attack rolls against you have advantage. Any Attack that hits
Hungry Thirsty Sleepy Uncomfortable you is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of you.
Ravenous Dry Very sleepy Overwhelming +1 Exhaustion PETRIFIED
Starving Dehydrated Barely awake Unbearable +1 Exhaustion You are transformed, along with any nonmagical object you
are wearing or carrying, into a solid inanimate substance.
Your weight increases by a factor of ten, and you cease aging.
You are incapacitated, can't move or speak, and are unaware
HOLDINGS of your surroundings. Attack rolls against you have advantage.
Name You automatically fail Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws.
Description You have Resistance to all damage. You are immune to
poison and disease, although a poison or disease already in
its system is suspended, not neutralized.
POISONED
MAGIC ITEM You have disadvantage on Attack rolls and Ability Checks.
PRONE
Name Your only Movement option is to crawl, unless you stand up
and thereby end the condition. You have disadvantage on
Description
Attack rolls. An Attack roll against you has advantage if the
attacker is within 5 feet of you. Otherwise, the Attack roll has
disadvantage.
MAGIC ITEM RESTRAINED
Your speed becomes 0, and you can't benefit from any bonus
to your speed. Attack rolls against you have advantage, and
Name your Attack rolls have disadvantage. You have disadvantage
Description on Dexterity Saving Throws.
STUNNED
You are incapacitated, can't move, and can speak only
falteringly. You automatically fail Strength and Dexterity
MAGIC ITEM Saving Throws. Attack rolls against you have advantage.
UNCONCIOUS
Name You are incapacitated, can't move or speak, and are unaware
Description of your surroundings. You drop whatever you're holding and
fall prone. You automatically fail Strength and Dexterity
Saving Throws. Attack rolls against you have advantage. Any
Attack that hits you is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5
MAGIC ITEM feet of you.

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 SPELLS & EFFECTS

SPELL DETAIL

SPELLCASTING SPELL SAVE SPELL ATTACK

ABILITY DC BONUS

MAGICAL BURNOUT

0 CANTRIPS 3 6

1 7

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 EQUIPMENT

NAME 5 4 3 2 1 NAME 20 12 10 8 6 4 1
RATIONS COPPER

WATERSKIN SILVER

INVENTORY SLOTS GOLD

ITEM CHARGES USAGE & AMMUNITION DIE

EQUIPMENT

SLOTS ITEM DETAILS QUANTITY NOTCHES

OTHER HOLDINGS
Name Name
Description Description

MAGIC ITEM MAGIC ITEM

Name Name
Description Description

MAGIC ITEM MAGIC ITEM

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 Age
Height
Weight
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Distinguishing Feature
Motivation

Habit

DETAILS IDEALS

APPEARANCE FAMILY BONDS

MEMORIES

PERSONAL QUEST FLAWS

ADDITIONAL NOTES

NAME 5 4 3 2 1 NAME 20 12 10 8 6 4 1
RATIONS COPPER

WATERSKIN SILVER

INVENTORY SLOTS GOLD

ITEM CHARGES USAGE & AMMUNITION DIE

EQUIPMENT

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 EQUIPMENT

NAME 5 4 3 2 1 NAME 20 12 10 8 6 4 1
RATIONS COPPER

WATERSKIN SILVER

INVENTORY SLOTS GOLD

ITEM CHARGES USAGE & AMMUNITION DIE

EQUIPMENT

OTHER HOLDINGS
Name Name
Description Description

MAGIC ITEM MAGIC ITEM

Name Name
Description Description

MAGIC ITEM MAGIC ITEM

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

1 1 1 1 3

1 1 1 1 3

3
2 2 2 2

2 2 4 6

3 3 6 9

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 SPELLBOOK

SPELLBOOK

LEVEL SPELL DETAILS SCHOOL CASTING RANGE COMPONENTS DURATION SOURCE

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 CALENDAR: DAYS

Day:

TIME OF DAY HOUR EVENTS XP & REWARDS

Night 0-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
Dawn 5-6
Morning 6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
Noon 11-12
12-13
Afternoon 13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
Dusk 18-19
Night 19-20
20-21
21-22
22-23
23-24

Day:

TIME OF DAY HOUR EVENTS XP & REWARDS

Night 0-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
Dawn 5-6
Morning 6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
Noon 11-12
12-13
Afternoon 13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
Dusk 18-19
Night 19-20
20-21
21-22
22-23
23-24

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 CALENDAR: WEEK

Week:

DAY HOUR EVENTS XP & REWARDS

0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
0-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 CALENDAR: MONTH

Month:

DAY EVENTS XP & REWARDS

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

 JOURNEY TRACKER

FROM TO DAY GUIDE DC FORAGE DC

TIME OF DAY DANGER ROLL EVENT DISCOVERY GUIDE FORAGER SCOUT LOOKOUT CONDITIONS
Dawn +1 hunger & thirst
Morning
Noon +1 fatigue
Afternoon
Dusk +1 hunger, thirst, & fatigue
Night

FROM TO DAY GUIDE DC FORAGE DC

TIME OF DAY DANGER ROLL EVENT DISCOVERY GUIDE FORAGER SCOUT LOOKOUT CONDITIONS
Dawn +1 hunger & thirst
Morning
Noon +1 fatigue
Afternoon
Dusk +1 hunger, thirst, & fatigue
Night

FROM TO DAY GUIDE DC FORAGE DC

TIME OF DAY DANGER ROLL EVENT DISCOVERY GUIDE FORAGER SCOUT LOOKOUT CONDITIONS
Dawn +1 hunger & thirst
Morning
Noon +1 fatigue
Afternoon
Dusk +1 hunger, thirst, & fatigue
Night

FROM TO DAY GUIDE DC FORAGE DC

TIME OF DAY DANGER ROLL EVENT DISCOVERY GUIDE FORAGER SCOUT LOOKOUT CONDITIONS
Dawn +1 hunger & thirst
Morning
Noon +1 fatigue
Afternoon
Dusk +1 hunger, thirst, & fatigue
Night

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Giffyglyph's D&D 5e Character Sheet & Trackers v2.0

Quick Reference
Low-light & Darkvision p14 Food, Water, & Gold p19 Shattered Gear p26
If you have the Darkvision racial character trait, You can freely carry one ration box, one water- Fragility Description Maximum
replace it with the Low-light Vision trait. If you skin, and one coin purse. These don't occupy any Notches
have the Superior Darkvision racial trait, replace it inventory slots. Delicate Thin glass, ceramics, 1
with Darkvision. complicated or tiny
Low-light Vision: For 30 ft around you, you machinery
can see in dim light as if it were bright light. You
Armor Expertise p20
Sturdy Wood, metal, well 10
cannot see in darkness. If you are wearing medium or heavy armor—and constructed goods
Darkvision: For 30 ft around you, you can see you are appropriately proficient—you gain a perk: Indestructible Thick stone, strong 100+
in dim light as if it were bright light and in Medium Armor: Reduce any bludgeoning, metals
darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern piercing, and slashing damage that you take from
color in darkness, only shades of grey. Beyond 30 non-magical weapons by half your proficiency
ft, you cannot see in darkness. bonus (rounded down), to a minimum of 1.
Sacrificing Gear p26
Heavy Armor: Reduce any bludgeoning, When you hit with an attack, you can shatter your
piercing, and slashing damage that you take from weapon to roll its original un-notched damage
Initiative p15
non-magical weapons by your proficiency bonus, die. Decide this before you roll damage.
When calculating initiative, use your Intelligence to a minimum of 1. You can sacrifice your armor when hit by an
modifier instead of your Dexterity. attack to reduce the damage taken by 3d4 (light),
Tactical Wit: As a War Wizard, add your DEX 3d8 (medium), and 3d12 (heavy)—it falls apart
modifier as a bonus to intiative, not INT.
Item Sizes p20
in the process. Decide this after damage is dealt.
Size Description Slots
Tiny Smaller than a hand; Can hold 0.2
Known Languages p15
many in one hand.
Mending p26
INT Known Languages Small Up to a handspan / 9 inches long; 1 You can use Mending to restore an item that has
-1 or You have only a basic grasp of vocabulary Held comfortably with one hand. shattered from too many notches. A restored
lower in your primary language, and you are Medium Up to an arms-length / 2ft long; 2 item is usable again, but has the maximum
illiterate. Held with one hand. number of notches—without repairs, it will break
0 You can speak, read, and write your Large Longer than an arm; Requires one 3 again with one more notch.
primary language with a decent range of or two hands to hold.
vocabulary.
+1 You can speak, read, and write two
Temper Qualities p26
languages.
Variant: Quickdraw p23
Quality Rarity Critical Failure
+2 You can speak, read, and write three Characters nominate 3 items in their inventory as — Common Gains 1 notch
languages. quickdraw items. Quickdraw items can be Pure Temper Uncommon Gains ½ (0.5) notch
+3 You can speak, read, and write four draw/removed from the inventory using a free Royal Temper Rare Gains ¼ (0.25)
languages. object interaction. Non-quickdraw items can only notch
be accessed using a full action. Astral Temper Mythic Gains ⅛ (0.125)
A character may change their quickdraw item notch
Skill Changes p15
selection during a short rest.
Animal Handling: Animal handling now measures
your ability to recall lore about animals (or
Item Quality p27
creatures with the Beast keyword) and interact
Variant: Containers p24
Quality Description
with them. Characters divide their total number of item slots Pristine Never been notched. This item looks,
Roll Intelligence (Animal Handling) to recall into distinct containers that they name, feels, and smells brand new.
some information about animals, or Wisdom categorise, and place about their person. Worn Has had only one notch at a time. This
(Animal Handling) to interact with animals. item has one main defect.
Nature: Nature no longer measures your Well- Has had two notches at one time. This
knowledge of animals and beasts—that domain is
Container Categories p24
worn item shows heavy signs of use.
now a part of the Animal Handling skill. Type Description Scarred Has had four or more notches at one
Bag Holds any items. Draw an item with an time. This item looks shabby and in poor
action. condition.
Inventory: Slots p19
Belt Holds small and tiny items. Draw an item
You carry items in slots, with each item with a free action.
occupying 1 or more slots. Your capacity Sheath Holds weapons and shields. Draw an
Resale Value p27
depends on your size, strength, and armor. item with a free action. Quality Value Quality Value
Quiver Stores bows, crossbows, arrows, bolts, and Pristine 75% Well-Worn 25%
javelins. Draw an item with a free action. Worn 50% Scarred 10%
Inventory: Size p19
Size Slots Size Slots
Tiny 9 Large 21
Item Degradation p25 Item Restoration p27
Small 15 Huge 27 Category Effect Quality Cost
Medium 18 Gargantuan 39 Weapon Gains a notch when you critically fail an Worn to Pristine 50%
attack. Each notch reduces the damage Well-Worn to Worn 30%
die you roll by one step. Scarred to Well-Worn 10%
Inventory: Strength p19
Armor Gains a notch when you are critically
You gain (or lose) a number of item slots equal to hit. Each notch reduces your AC by 1.
your STR modifier. Focus Gains a notch when you critically fail to
Ammunition p28
cast a spell while holding it. Each notch Roll your Ammunition die whenever you take a
reduces your spellcasting ability by 1. shot: if you roll a 1 or 2, your ammunition die
Inventory: Armor p19
Item Gains a notch whenever appropriate— gets one size smaller.
Armor Slots Armor Slots often when it takes direct damage or is If you're down to one piece of ammunition
None +0 Medium -6 used in a failed skill check. Each notch and you use it, that's it—it's gone. Replenish your
Light -3 Heavy -9 reduces effectiveness by 1. ammunition to increase the size of your die.

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Open Skills p36 Active XP p44 Foraging p52
Skills are not tied to a single ability. You may add You gain experience points for three main DC Terrain
your skill bonus to any appropriate ability check. activities: making discoveries, overcoming 5 Lush, verdant forest; Food/water everywhere.
adversity, and recovering lost treasures. 10 Forest; Coast; Abundant food, clean water.
15 Thin woodland and greenwood. Food must
Social Interaction p36
be hunted and water is hard to find.
The context of your social interaction determines
Character Advancement p44
20 Dry, open plains; little food or clean water.
which ability you are using: smarts (intelligence), Level Experience Level Experience 25 Desert and barren or polluted land; Food is
feelings (wisdom), and presence (charisma). 0-1 150 10-11 6,200 extremely rare and water needs treatment.
• Intelligence: You're trying to be clever. Debate, 1-2 300 11-12 8,680 30 Toxic or corrupted deadlands; Food is
reason, negotiate, lie, manipulate, and wit. 2-3 420 12-13 12,150 inedible and water sources are poisoned.
• Wisdom: You're trying to soothe or connect 3-4 590 13-14 17,010
feelings. Rapport, empathise, calm, discretion, 4-5 820 14-15 23,810
judgement, and tact. 5-6 1,150 15-16 33,330
Bloodied p57
• Charisma: You're trying to be likeable or 6-7 1,610 16-17 46,660 You are bloodied when you are at 50% hp or
dominating. Charm, bluff, banter, incite, 7-8 2,260 17-18 65,330 lower. While bloodied, you must use a bandage
command, and intimidate. 8-9 3,160 18-19 91,460 to spend any hit dice.
9-10 4,430 19-20 128,050
Help p37 Wounds & Injuries p57
When you use the Help action, you roll one of the
Magic Burnout p47
When you fall to 0 hit points, you gain a wound.
two d20 dice. Add your ally's modifiers as normal. Roll your Burnout die whenever you cast a magic Roll a d10 to see where you are wounded. Open
spell: if you roll a 1 or 2, you trigger a burnout wounds apply a level of exhaustion.
consequence and your burnout die also gets one Treatment: Treat a wound with first-aid
Tools p37
size smaller. Recover from burnout by: knowledge and medical supplies. A treated
Add your proficiency bonus to any ability check • Spending a hit die: +1 burnout die size. wound causes no exhaustion.
made with a proficient tool. If you are proficient • Getting a good sleep: +1 burnout die size. Healing: At the end of a long rest, check to
with both a tool and a skill, add your proficiency • Taking a long rest: Reset burnout die to d12. see if each of your wounds heal up—make a DC
bonus and make your roll with advantage. 15 Constitution check for each wound.
Critical Hits: When critically hit by an attack,
Burnout Consequences p48
check each of your wounds: roll a d20 to see if
Active Defence p38
d100 Consequence the wound reopens.
The DM doesn't make attack rolls—instead, the 1-5 Drained: Lose (spell level) hit dice. Injuries: If you fall to 0 from a Violent attack,
players make defence rolls. Roll d20 + your AC vs 6-15 Reduced: Lose (spell level / 2) hit dice. roll for a permanent injury instead of a wound.
the monster's attack bonus + 22. If your defence 16-40Shocked: Lose (spell level x 4) hit points.
equals or beats the DC, your character avoids the 41-88Hurt: Lose (spell level x 2) hit points.
attack. If you fail, the attack hits you. 89-93Blackout: Disadvantage on casting for (spell
Lingering Wounds p57
Advantage: If the attacker has advantage, you level) rounds. d10 Area d10 Area
have disadvantage on the defence roll—and vice 94 Immolated: Shrink the burnout die to d4. 1 An arm 6 Your back
versa if they have disadvantage. 95 Gifted: Regain this spell slot. 2 A leg 7 Your head
Criticals: If the defence roll comes up as a 96 Renewed: Regain (spell level) hit dice. 3 A hand 8 Your face
natural 1, the attack critically hits you. 97 Healed: Gain (spell level x 4) hit points. 4 A foot 9 Your chest
98 Protected: Gain (spell level x 4) 5 Your stomach 10 Your buttocks
temporary hit points.
Active Initiative p40
99 Energised: Advantage on casting for (spell
1. Who goes first?: Decide who acts first, usually level) rounds.
Permanent Injuries p58
by rolling initiative—the highest roll goes first. 100 Restored: Reset the burnout die to d12. d10 Injury Treatment
2. Take turns: Take your turn. Once you've 1 Lose an arm Prosthesis (arm)
finished, pick who goes next. This can be 2 Lose a leg Prosthesis (leg)
anyone that hasn't acted yet, friend or foe.
The Journey Phase p50
3 Lose a hand Prosthesis (hand)
3. End the round: Once everyone's acted, end 1. Choose your destination: Pick a place. 4 Lose a foot Prosthesis (foot)
the round and clear up any expired effects— 2. Choose your route: Decide on the path you'll 5 Lose an eye Prosthesis (eye)
spells, powers, timers, etc. take. Measure your route in days of travel. 6 Lose a toe Medical aid (DC 15)
4. Start a new round: The last person to act gets 3. Gather supplies: Collect together any supplies, 7 Lose a finger Medical aid (DC 15)
to decide who starts the new round—it can't mounts, and equipment. 8 A horrific wound Medical aid (DC 20)
be themselves unless they have no alternative. 4. Embark: Head out on your journey. Each day: 9 An internal injury Medical aid (DC 20)
No delays: You cannot pass or delay once your • Assign roles: Assign a guide, scout, forager, 10 Lose half your teeth Medical aid (DC 20)
turn begins, but you can ready an action. and lookout. A character cannot share roles.
Interrupt: If you took damage or you spend an • Travel: Travel through the six phases of the
inspiration point, you can choose to interrupt and day: dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk,
Dying p60
take your turn once the current turn has finished. and night. Handle any encounters or When you fall to 0 hit points, you gain the Dying
discoveries you might make. condition:
5. Arrive: Reach your destination. • You drop what you're holding and fall prone.
Degrees of Success p42
• You can't move, take actions, or use reactions.
• Critical Success: You succeeded by 10 or • You're aware of what's happening 15 ft around.
more on a skill check, or rolled a natural 20 on
Guidance p51
• You can speak a maximum of 2 words per round.
an attack. Something great happens to you. DC Terrain • Attack rolls against you have advantage.
• Success: You achieve your goal. 5 Wide open plains; Clear landmarks; Obvious • You automatically fail STR/DEX saving throws.
• Minor Failure or Success at a Cost: You failed pathway. • You must make a death saving throw at the start
by 1, 2, or 3. You can choose to succeed, but 10 Tall landmarks; Small hills. of your turn. If you fail three times, you die.
something very bad also happens as a 15 Light rain or mist; Woods and hills.
consequence—negotiate with the DM. 20 Moonlight night; Heavy rain or mist; Forest
• Failure: You failed by 4 or more. with no clear pathway or markings.
Persistent Death Saves p60
• Critical Failure: You failed by 10 or more on a 25 Fog; Thick and obscure forest; Mountains. If you fail three death saving throws, you die.
skill check, or rolled a natural 1 on an attack. 30 Clouded night; Impossibly thick fog; A Saves don't reset after a short rest—you recover
Something awful happens to you. shifting maze; Magically treacherous terrain. one failed save after completing a long rest.

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Death Saving Throw p60 Gaining Stress p72 Greater Restoration p75
d20 Outcome Category Stress Description Greater Restoration allows you to try an Affliction
01 You fail two death saving throws. Minor +1 A small frustration or worry. Removal outside of a long rest. This counts as
02-09 You fail one death saving throw. Moderate +2 You've made a critical error your once-per-week removal attempt.
10-19 No change. or put something at risk. From levels 1-10, roll the Affliction Removal
20 You regain 1 hit point and stabilise. Major +4 Something devastating to check with advantage with Greater Restoration.
your character or beliefs. From levels 11-20, roll with disadvantage.
Monstrous +8 An incomprehensible thing.
Cheating Fate p62
If you would suffer a killing blow or fail your last
Making Camp p77
death saving throw, you may instead spend a fate
Relieving Stress p74
1. Build your campsite: Making camping checks
point to cheat death in some fashion. Category Stress Description to set up your camp. The more successes, the
Minor -1 A small success. better the camp.
Moderate -2 A critical success. 2. Appoint a lookout: This person is in charge of
Becoming Contagious p65
Major -4 You've beaten the odds and security and perception checks.
Severity Contagious gained a significant victory. 3. Pick one primary activity: If you're not on
Stage 1 Less than 25% hit points remain Majestic -8 You've done something near lookout, you can do one primary activity.
Stage 2 Less than 50% hit points remain impossible. 4. Sleep: Get some rest.
Stage 3 Less than 75% hit points remain 5. Pack up: Get your stuff together and move on.
Stage 4 Always contagious
Afflictions p75
d100 Affliction
Camping Check DC p78
Survival Conditions p69
01-06 Fearful: Disadv on WIS checks & saves DC Description
Conditions track your physical state and can 07-12 Lethargic: +1 exhaustion until removed 10 Safe, dry land is easy to find / the weather
cause exhaustion. There are three conditions to 13-18 Masochistic: Disadv on CON checks & is clear.
track: hunger, thirst, and fatigue (and an optional saves 15 A campsite requires effort to find /
fourth, temperature). 19-24 Irrational: Disadv on INT checks & saves there's bad weather—rain, light snow,
25-30 Paranoid: Speed is halved heavy fog, etc.
31-36 Selfish: Disadv on CHA checks & saves 20 It's hard to find a safe campsite / the
Survival Condition Tracks p69
37-42 Panic: Disadv on DEX checks & saves weather is terrible—heavy rain, a fierce
Hunger Thirst Exhaustion DC 43-48 Hopelessness: Disadv on STR checks & storm, a howling wind.
Stuffed Quenched -1 — saves
Well-fed Refreshed — 5 49-54 Mania: Disadv on attack rolls
Ok Ok — 10 55-60 Anxiety: Disadv on Stress checks
Camping Results p78
Peckish Parched — 15 61-66 Hypochondria: Hit point max is halved FailuresDescription
Hungry Thirsty — 20 67-72 Narcissistic: Disadv on ability checks 0 A perfect campsite. Activity checks are
Ravenous Dry +1 25 73-77 Powerful: +2 to all damage rolls DC 5.
Starving Dehydrated +1 30 78-82 Focused: +2 to all attack rolls 1 A decent campsite with one glaring flaw.
83-87 Stalwart: +2 AC Activity checks are DC 10.
Fatigue Temperature Exhaustion DC 88-91 Acute: Adv on INT checks & saves 2 or A shoddy campsite just barely fit for
Energised Perfect -1 — 92-96 Perceptive: Adv on WIS checks & saves more purpose. Activity checks are DC 15.
Well-rested Comfortable — 5 97-00 Courageous: Adv on CHA checks &
Ok Ok — 10 saves
Tired Noticeable — 15
Long Rest p82
Sleepy Uncomfortable — 20 A long rest requires a full week of downtime in a
Very sleepy Overwhelming +1 25
Curing Afflictions p75
sanctuary—village, town, or city. For each week:
Barely awake Unbearable +1 30 During a long rest, you can attempt to cure an 1. Sell loot: Trade in treasure for GP and XP.
Affliction. Pay the cost and roll a d20. Some 2. Choose lifestyle: Choose your quality of
downtime activities grant you advantage. lifestyle for the week.
Hunger, Thirst & Fatigue p70
3. Choose primary activity: Choose one primary
Time Hunger Thirst Fatigue downtime activity and pay any relevant costs.
Dawn +1 +1 —
Affliction Removal p75
4. Hear rumors: While resting, your adventuring
Noon — — +1 d20 Result party learns of three rumors.
Dusk +1 +1 +1 01 Critical Failure: You fail to cure your 5. Perform secondary activities: You can do two
Affliction and gain a new one. small, secondary activities during your week.
02-09 Failure: Your Affliction remains. 6. Settle up: It's the end of the week—complete
Stamina Check p71
10-19 Success: You cured your Affliction. your primary activity and check your wounds.
d6 Result 20 Critical Success: You clear yourself of all
1-2 Gain +1 hunger Afflictions and Stress.
3-4 Gain +1 thirst
Training p85
5-6 Gain +1 fatigue To level up, you must spend time training. You
Affliction Removal Costs p75
need three things: a mentor, facilities, and gold.
Level Gold Level Gold Level Gold
Stress p72
1 5 8 42 15 432
Stress is a measure of pressure on a character's 2 7 9 58 16 604
Training Costs p85
mental state—too much is unhealthy and can 3 9 10 81 17 845 Level Weeks GP Level Weeks GP
lead to Afflictions and even death. 4 12 11 113 18 1,183 1 — — 11 5 94
Snapping: When you take 20, 30, and 35 5 16 12 158 19 1,656 2 1 15 12 6 115
points of Stress for the first time after a long rest, 6 22 13 221 20 2,318 3 1 20 13 6 165
you snap and develop a mental Affliction. 7 30 14 309 — — 4 2 15 14 7 202
Breaking Point: When you take 40 points of 5 2 20 15 7 295
Stress, you reach breaking point—if hit by a 6 3 25 16 8 370
damaging attack, you die.
Mental Breakdown p75
7 3 35 17 8 536
Sanctuary: When you complete a long rest in a If you gain more than 3 Afflictions, you suffer a 8 4 37 18 9 687
sanctuary—village, town, city—your Stress is complete breakdown. The character can no 9 4 55 19 9 990
reduced to 0. longer be played—they retire, go insane, or die. 10 5 64 20 10 1,280

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 D

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112
 Danger Lurks
In Dark Places
The world is not your friend. In the deep,
dark places of this land, unearthly horrors
guard forgotten treasures. Dare you brave
the darker dungeons below?

This supplement offers new rules options

and mechanics to help any Dungeon Master
add a little more danger to their games.

112 pages of new rules options

compatible with any D&D 5e game

Keep track of equipment with an

easy-to-use inventory system

Run 0th-level adventures with

rookie characters

Add risk to spellcasting with

dangerous magical burnout

Keep players immersed in combat

with Active Defence and Active Initiative

Make your journeys a real adventure

with the journey phase

Infect characters with

deadly diseases

Includes new character sheets, trackers,

and quick reference pages

GIFFYGLYPH