Luck Points

Luck points represent the ebb and flow of a party's fortunes throughout a session. A string of bad luck sees a party gaining points, and they can be spent to tip the odds in their favor when it counts.

Gaining Luck Points

Each player has their own pool of luck points, in addition to a shared pool that is replenished each session. Luck points are transient, and a maximum of 1 luck point can be carried over by each player from one session to the next (shared luck points are not carried over at all).

Session Start

At the start of each session, 2 luck points are added to the shared pool of points.

Extra Effort

Any player who brings snacks, eloquently summarizes the previous session for those who missed it (or forgot it), or goes above and beyond in a small to moderate way (like writing up a summary of the session for the site, drawing a portrait of a character or scene, filling in some character backstory, role-playing outside of the normal session, tracking monster HP for the DM, etc) will be awarded one or more luck points, either at the start of the session or when the act occurs.

Bad Luck

Any player who experiences a particularly bad run of luck, whether it be missing several attacks in a row, critically fumbling an attack, or missing an important save or skill check, will be awarded a luck point in consolation and commiseration.

Good Role-playing

Any player who does a particularly good job of getting into their character for a scene, does something that aligns with their character's personality at the expense of their well being, or suffers the consequences of a character flaw will be awarded a luck point.

Maximum Luck Points

The maximum luck points a player (or the shared pool of the party) can have is five. If a luck point would be added to a pool that already contains 5 luck points, 1d4 points are lost instead (to discourage hoarding of luck points).

Spending Luck Points

What a luck point can be spent on depends in part on where it is coming from. A luck point from a player's individual pool can only be spent on a roll that impacts them directly or one they could provide reasonable justification for the ability to influence, whereas a luck point from the party's pool can be spent on any eligible roll. Eligible rolls include any attack roll, skill check, ability check, or saving throw rolled by a player or DM. Any given roll can only be modified once by luck points. Players may not pool luck points for a single effect, though they may add party luck points to their own in this way.

Minor Inspiration

By spending one or more luck points, the players can receive a hint on how to resolve a dilemma or overcome a challenge they are currently facing. This hint can be meta-gaming in nature, involve a reminder of a piece of information they may have forgotten about, an automatic success on a Perception check to notice something they have thus far missed, or an automatic success on a Knowledge check they either failed or did not have ranks in. The scale of the information (determined by how inaccessible it is without inspiration and how impactful the information is) determines how many luck points it costs (alternatively, the amount of luck points spent dictates the quality and impactfulness of the inspiration). A few examples are provided below for each point count. The information given is not a guarantee, but points will not be collected in a situation for which the DM has nothing of equivalent value to give to the players.

• 1 Point: Success on a Knowledge check you failed but are capable of passing, a small hint for a puzzle, or a reminder about some useful information you know but may have forgotten.
• 2 Points: Success on a Knowledge check you have ranks in but are not capable of passing, a moderate hint for a puzzle, or an obscure piece of useful information you missed but your character could have picked up.
• 3 Points: Success on a Knowledge check you have no ranks in, a major hint for a puzzle, or a sudden realization of a piece of useful information that was not discovered by the party before (but could have been).
• 4 Points: The solution to a puzzle, the linking of seemingly disparate information that is actually connected, or a major piece of valuable information that was missed.
• 5 Points: A major inspiration, as the Inspiration hero point power.

Advantage/Disadvantage

By spending 1 luck point before an eligible roll, that roll can be made with Advantage or Disadvantage, at the spending player's choice.

Modify Roll

By spending luck points after an eligible roll, the roll can be modified. The points are spent after the result of the roll is determined, but before its effects are adjudicated. The amount the roll can be modified is shown in the Luck Point Modifiers table. The players may not know the exact amount the roll needs to be modified by to change the outcome, but will know if success is possible before committing the points.

Stroke of Fortune

Sometimes a character has just the right answer to a problem, but they need a specific set of circumstances for it to work out.

These circumstances may cover the entire range from downright probable to outright impossible. An example might be a swashbuckler surrounded on a stairway, who could make a daring escape if only there was a rope holding up a heavy chandelier on the wall next to him, or a cleric who could stop that troll from regenerating if only there was a bottle of acid on the shelf in the supply closet across the hall, or a party who really wishes the weather was gusty after having a fog cloud cast over them.

Whenever a player wants for a specific circumstance to exist in their favor, they can make a luck roll for it. The DM decides the DC of the check, based on the table below. Before rolling the check, Players may spend up to 5 luck points to add +5 to the check per point spent.

If the roll fails, the player may spend luck points (either personal, from the shared pool, or a combination of both) to change it to a success. The average DC, along with number of points required to change the outcome is in the Stroke of Fortune Table.

In order to be worthy of a roll, the circumstance must add to the scene in some way rather than subtracting from it. The evil overlord keeling over dead from a heart attack just before the big fight may not be strictly impossible, and would definitely help the players, but deflates all the tension and excitement of the scene, and so would not warrant a roll. The DM can veto any roll if they determine the outcome to take away from the fun of the session.

Likelihood	Difficulty Class	Change Cost	Example
Almost Certainly	0	1	There's a plate on an occupied table in the tavern
Most Likely	5	1	There's a glass mug full of beer on the bar
Probably	10	1	There's a torch on the wall in an occupied dungeon
Maybe	15	2	A stocked wizard's lab has flasks of alchemist's fire handy
Probably Not	20	3	There's a barrel at the top of the stairs that can be rolled down it
Highly Unlikely	25	4	The barrel is full of something highly flammable
Damn Near Impossible	30	5	A strong gust of wind bursts the door open and disperses the stinking cloud
You're Kidding, Right?	35	-	A healing potion falls out of someone's pocket into your hand as you lie prone at 0 hp
Damn Near Impossible	40	-	The potion lands open in your unconscious mouth
Divine Intervention	45	-	Your deity takes umbrage with your death and resurrects you on the spot
Literally Impossible	46+	-	The evil overlord has a heart attack immediately before dealing you a mortal blow