Agency
At almost any point in the campaign, you can declare an action. When that action triggers may be subject to a roll from either you or another creature, but the players have the highest priority in the experience. No matter if the DM is narrating a scene or voicing a character, feel free to interrupt if your character attempts to perform an action or check.
Counterspell
When you cast Counterspell against a spell which requires you to make an Intelligence (Arcana) check or when you Counterspell another creature’s Counterspell (or vice-versa), you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table.
Helping Out
When a creature makes an ability check, you can give them the Help action if and only if you are proficient in the kind of check they are attempting to make. If you can give a good explanation of how you are helping them, they will gain a bonus to the roll ranging from +1 to +3 depending how relevant the help is.
Feats
At levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19, you must choose between an Ability Score Increase or a Feat. In addition, the Lucky feat is omitted from the selection of possible feats.
Initiative
When a creature gets a natural 20 on initiative, they can either give a friendly creature advantage on their initiative roll, give an enemy creature disadvantage on their initiative roll, or take a hasted action.
Knives
When creating your character, think about what they need, who they love, and why they do the things they do. When discovering your character, write a list of two or more “knives” that the DM can use to raise the stakes. These are things like specific family members, fears, or morals which may be jeopardized throughout the campaign.
Lock Picking
When picking a lock, it will take an action (or six seconds) to assess the lock and determine the lock’s Safety, represented by a number from one (a luggage padlock) to eight (the reinforced wall lock on a prestigious bank’s vault). To successfully pick the lock, you must roll a number of d6s equal to the lock’s Safety. If none of the d6s are 1s, the lock is successfully picked. If any of them are 1s, you still have a chance to pick it. If the person picking the lock is a rogue, has thieves tools, or makes a successful Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, the DC of which equals 10 + the lock’s Safety, they get one reroll for each qualifier met.
Luck Checks
To determine aspects of the world not based on your skill, you may be asked to make a luck check. Doing so involves rolling a d20, higher numbers being a more favorable outcome.
Natural 1s and Natural 20s
A natural 20 on an attack roll is a critical hit, calculated by dealing the regular damage of the attack plus the maximum value of the damage dice. So, a critical hit with a sword that deals 1d8 + your Strength modifier damage would deal 1d8 + 8 + 5 if your character had a +5 Strength modifier. In addition, a natural 20 on a saving throw means that you suffer none of the normal effects, but gain no other bonuses. If a creature gets a natural 1 on an attack roll, the creature makes a luck check to determine the severity of the mistake. The higher the number, the less impactful the critical failure. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on Initiative or a Saving Throw, nothing extra happens besides a low Initiative roll or a failed Saving Throw.
Packs
Packs gained as starting equipment (such as a Priest’s Pack or a Scholar’s Pack) have five charges each. Whenever applicable, you can expend one charge of the pack to pull something from the pack. The thing you pull must be reasonable to expect from a pack of such a type (an Entertainer’s Pack likely wouldn’t have caltrops, but a Dungeoneer’s Pack might). If the DM needs convincing, you can state your case as to why such an item would be in the pack and the DM will decide if the logic holds water.
Potions
When you administer or drink a healing potion, you can do so as either an action or a bonus action. With a bonus action, you roll healing as normal. With an action, the recipient of the potion gets the maximum amount of healing possible. Potions which apply spell effects, such as a Potion of Gaseous Form, are still an action to administer or drink.
Proficiencies
Utilizing the right learning resources, you can gain proficiency in any number of things. Be it reading from books or interacting with professionals, you are able to gain proficiency with certains armor or weapons, learn languages, and even perfect skills. Based on what you are learning and how much you already know, the time and gold cost will vary.
Secrets
When your character is created, think of how they tie into the other party members. For your character, make three secrets; one which is heavily backstory or plot relevant (likely to be revealed), one which is lightly backstory or plot relevant (unlikely to be revealed), and one which another player’s character knows. Whether or not you know they know is up to you.
Starting Equipment
When you first gain control of your character, the items on them will include the starting equipment for your given class alongside any equipment granted by your background. In addition, you can choose one free feat.
Stress and Adversity
Life in Orcon is stressful, from the hustle and bustle of urban life to the relentless attacks by the monstrous. Thus, players may encounter stressful scenarios unheard of in their lives prior. Players may, at some points, need to make Wisdom Saving Throws to see how they handle the pressures of their circumstances. Lower than a 10 means that they are wracked with anxiety or disappointment, gaining them a Stress Token. At any time, the DM can request that a player with a Stress Token make an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw with disadvantage due to the overwhelming pressure. The Stress Token then goes away.
If the roll is very important to the player, they can choose instead to Bottle it Up. If a player bottles up their stress, they do not take disadvantage on the roll, but they do gain an additional Stress Token. Players can also stress themselves. When a player rolls a natural 1, they can choose to turn the roll into a 10 and take one Stress Token as they push themselves beyond what is normal (or safe for that matter).
If the creature succeeds on the roll made with disadvantage, they gain an Adversity token. At any time, a player with an Adversity token can turn it in to gain advantage on an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw of their choice. Stress Tokens can also be gotten rid of by relaxing. Relaxing takes 4 hours during which the creature does something they enjoy. This could be painting, swimming, or even just watching television. Relaxing does not give the benefits of a long rest nor a short rest.
Time Passes
Time is far from infinite, and in a go-go city like Orcon, everyone’s on a time crunch. Time is represented by a pool of dice in the middle of the table. The size of the die represents the relative danger or ease of access of the location the party is in. When the party spends time interacting with the environment, often a drawn out action taking 5-10 minutes, one die is added to the time pool or the time pool is rolled. Whenever the party does something which would attract attention, all dice in the time pool are rolled. If any dice rolled is a 1, something bad happens. What that is is location and scenario specific, but it isn’t good. If the time pool was full (usually 6-12 dice), it is counted that one hour has passed and the time pool is reset. If the time pool wasn’t full, one die is removed.
Using this system, during a short rest, six dice of the given type are rolled and the bad things are resolved. Then, the short rest may proceed. The time pool is not cleared, but one die is removed from it.
