The Midgard Campaign Setting fan community is growing faster than an ill-advised alchemy experiment in Maillon! It’s an active, vibrant community, full of people who want to take what we’ve created and run with it in exciting and fun directions. So we thought, why not make it easier for them?

To encourage fan sites and free fan-created projects using Midgard and other Kobold Press IP, we’ve just launched the Kobold Press Community Use Policy. This policy covers free, fan-created material only; if you want to do a commercial project, check out our Freelancer Guidelines.

Along with guidelines on what fans can use and how, we’re also offering the first Kobold Press Community Use Package of resources. This first package contains 10 of the Midgard setting’s most iconic characters — and we’ll be adding new packages over time.

Tell us what you think in the comments! And if you have a Midgard fan project underway, or if this inspires you to start one, please let us know. We’d love to see it.

Two-Hit Minions

One of the great things 4E brought to D&D was the minion. They are designed to take a hit and go down—never to be heard from again. Two-hit minions fit a similar narrative situation as the standard 4E minion. They are the mooks of the dungeon and are designed to be mowed down in droves. Using them will mess with the healing economy of the game a bit, but because you will get more encounters resolved in a session, good pacing of the encounters can balance this.

The Two-Hit Minion

• Take a normal monster. Give it 1 hit point and the “no damage on a miss” trait as well as the following additional traits:
• Bloodied Not Down: When the two-hit minion is hit by an attack for the first time, it becomes bloodied and takes no damage.
• Always Around: At the start of its turn, if the two-hit minion is taking ongoing damage, it makes a saving throw before taking the damage.

The attacks of the monster remain unchanged. PCs should earn only half the XP of the normal version of the monster.

This creates a monster that will go down in two hits, so typically it will last 3 rounds and make two successful attacks. It’s easy to manage and it can still do reasonable damage with its hits like a normal monster. Because it gets bloodied and dies, it triggers all the PC mechanics that belong to those elements of the rules. The only thing it doesn’t trigger are effects that depend on killing a “nonminion” creature.

This option disadvantages characters who are designed to do very high damage intending to kill monsters in 1 hit ideally while providing an advantage to characters who can routinely attack the same monster twice in a single round.

In adventure design, the one thing to consider is that an encounter consisting of two-hit minions alone should not count for a milestone on its own unless the PCs fare particularly badly against it.

Half-Time

One popular solution for faster combat is to halve the hit points of all of the monsters and give them a bonus to damage. This results in monsters that die faster but do more damage, which, when done correctly, results in the same resource management problems for the players as a normal encounter but is faster because the monsters don’t need as much effort to kill.

To keep it simple, make the following adjustments.

Half Hit Point Monsters

• The hit points of the monster equals the original bloodied value of the monster.
• The new bloodied value equals half the original bloodied value.
• Increase the damage of all of the monster’s attacks by the average dice result of its attacks rounded down. (For example, 1d8+4 becomes 1d8+8.)

This method results in the fewest number of changes, but it can result in combat not speeding up appreciably if the main delay in the combat is centered on player decision-making speed. Players who already hesitate will still hesitate in their choices because, ultimately, the combat will mechanically balance out to be very similar to normal 4E combat in terms of danger.

Another approach that can be used with this is to leave the damage values alone entirely and simply halve the hit points of everything—PCs included.

Overall, this method favors characters with high single-attack damage output rates and provides a disadvantage to characters with low hit points who might normally take a hit only once or twice in a combat.

Removing Opportunity Attacks

“Simplify opportunity attacks. I’d like to focus them exclusively as a penalty for breaking away from melee without disengaging.”—Mike Mearls (DnD Next Goals; Part Two)

This design goal recognises the impact opportunity attacks have had on the last two editions of D&D. One of the routinely identified things that slows down turns is deciding where to move so opportunity attacks aren’t provoked.

Removing opportunity attacks completely would seem to be one solution. Many elements of the game depend on their existence, though, so modifying them is probably better.

Opportunity Attacks Take 2

A creature provokes an opportunity attack if it starts its turn in an enemy’s threatened area and moves out of that threatened area without shifting.

Threatened Area

The threatened area of a monster includes the squares adjacent to it, plus all squares within its threatening reach. (For example, threatening reach 3 means the creature threatens an area including all squares up to 3 squares away from it.)

This change should allow more freedom to move in combat and help reduce the decision time around movement for each player and the DM. The class most strongly affected by this is the fighter, since now monsters can move past a character of this class potentially with impunity. You can correct for this by amending the fighter so creatures provoke opportunity attacks by moving through its threatened area as well as by starting in it.

Final Thoughts

You can adjust the duration of combats in 4E in other ways, but before you start adjusting combat rules even a little bit, determine what causes you to think 4E combats are too long. Then check to see what your players think. If you find out what your players expect and determine what they see as being a problem before adjusting anything, you can set up your gaming table to meet those expectations and make wiser choices when it comes to rules modifications. Also, watch your players play for a period of time before implementing any rules-based solutions. If they aren’t already working together as a team, encourage players to do so (4E is definitely a team sport). Then, if everyone’s expectations are still not met, investigate and implement rules elements as a potential solution. Be ready to scrap what doesn’t work and try new things as you go, and continually ask for feedback from your players so that you all can set up the best shared experience possible.

In deciding what to do about the speed of 4E combat, it is important to know what everyone at the table is looking for out of the game. Each person’s perspective on the time it takes for combat will be influenced by how much he or she cares about different elements of the game. In its work on D&D Next, Wizards of the Coast has identified three pillars of D&D: exploration, roleplaying, and combat. Players who prefer to spend a lot of their game time in exploration or roleplaying will typically find 4E combats to be time-consuming because it isn’t what they want from the game, while players who are more interested in combat will find 4E combat long only in certain situations. It is important to understand what your group wants before trying to change the rules to shorten combat length.

Balancing the Pillars of D&D
The first place to start in examining combat length is in the design of your story. A 4E combat, without rules changes, should take 30 minutes to an hour. So if you have a 4-hour period in which your players can get together and if they don’t really care too much for combat, be sure to only have one combat per session. 4E has many ways for players to earn XP to advance their characters without a blow ever being struck, so combat isn’t necessary to advance either your story or your PCs’ stories. If the combat is important to the story, roleplaying-focused players might find that spending an hour on it will be less of a problem. If it’s just another random encounter with some orcs, then spending an hour on it is going to be a drag. Look at what purpose encounters have in your game. Do not get distracted by the traditional “dungeon crawl” mentality of many published adventures—4E is an excellent system for telling far more varied stories. Picking the right style of game for your group will help alleviate the “combat takes too long” problem.

The Third Step Is the Hardest
After finding out what your group wants from the game and designing sessions to accommodate that, the group should look at party synergy. Sometimes you just need to sit down and make sure the party’s members actually work well together. You don’t need to optimize to the nth degree, but ensuring your group understands what it needs from each character within it to be effective and figuring out how to work together to achieve those goals is important to getting through combats quickly. For example, warlords (and some cleric builds) can combine very well with strikers due to their ability to hand out extra attacks. Other leader builds are very effective at buffing their allies or debuffing the enemy. Coordinating actions to take advantage of these elements will speed up play. Looking at the strengths of your characters to do these things will help you end your battles faster.

Some people will argue that looking at the synergy of the game mechanics of the characters is “meta-gaming,” but consider this: You are in a hostile environment where creatures are trying to kill you and you are with four other people who have skills that can help. Wouldn’t you work with them and find out more about each other’s skills and so on? Finding out how your PCs synergize is just like doing that. Slow combats happen when the party doesn’t work well together.

If All Else Fails . . .
If you still find that combat is taking too long, there are a plethora of suggestions out there for how to speed combat up, and all of them involve introducing home brew elements into the game. Modifying the game system changes the core interactions of the game, and, as a result, you should do so with care and due consideration.

Missala, the Indolent Island (Page 140)

The ruins of the diamond palace are on this small island. Long abandoned, its only inhabitants are the pained remnants of the once living. The legends of vast fortunes lying in the ruins encourage the occasional adventuring party into the palace, but only the hardiest survive their time among the tortured souls of the former residents.

Missala, the Indolent Island     Level 12

Dynamic Terrain     XP 700

Constant Penalty: –2 Endurance, –2 Heal

Stage 5: The first time in each encounter that a PC needs to make a death saving throw, the PC automatically fails.

PCs gain vulnerable 10 necrotic.

Stage 4: PCs regain only half hit points from healing effects.

PCs gain vulnerable 5 necrotic.

Stage 3: After an extended rest, PCs regain all but two of their healing surges.

PCs gain vulnerable 5 necrotic.

Stage 2: After an extended rest, PCs regain all but two of their healing surges.

Stage 1 (initial): After an extended rest, PCs regain all but one of their healing surges.

Stage 0: The PCs feel uneasy, as if darkness is crawling under their skin.

Success/Failure Criteria

Success: A PC rolls a 20 on a death saving throw.

Failure: Every milestone reached within Missala.

The Bleak Expanse (Page 214)

A frozen desert of ice, snow, and windswept white tundra stretches out for miles. The ice is so deep that you would be forgiven for thinking no ground was beneath it. The cold, featureless landscape and the biting harsh wind take their toll on those who are unfortunate enough to find themselves here.

The Bleak Expanse     Level 17

Dynamic Terrain     XP 1,600

Skill Penalty:–2 Acrobatics, –2 Athletics

Stage 5 (initial): Each successful attack targeting a PC’s Fortitude deals 1d12 extra damage.

Stage 4: As stage 5, but replace 1d12 with 1d10.

Stage 3: As stage 5, but replace 1d12 with 1d8.

Stage 2: As stage 5, but replace 1d12 with 1d6.

Stage 1: As stage 5, but replace 1d12 with 1d4.

Stage 0: The PCs have become acclimatised to the Bleak Expanse.

Success/Failure Criteria

After each extended rest in the Bleak Expanse, each PC makes an Endurance check (DC 23).

Success: More than half of the PCs succeed.

Failure: More than half of the PCs fail.

Ruins of Thorn (Page 206)

Thorn was at one time a shining capitol, before war with the dwarves sent the elves that lived there into retreat. It is now a ruin—a stuttering echo of its former glory. The elves left behind many traps to dissuade treasure hunters, the most important of which is magic that twists time. The shifting currents of time change ages abruptly, putting paid to the adage “age is just a number.”

Ruins of Thorn     Level 23

Dynamic Terrain     XP 5,100

Constant Penalty: –5 to Arcana checks

Stage 5: If a player rolls 1–4 on an attack roll, roll a d12 and consult the Warped Time table for the outcome.

Stage 4: As Stage 5, but replace d12 with d10.

Stage 3 (initial): As Stage 5, but replace d12 with d8.

Stage 2: As Stage 5, but replace d12 with d6.

Stage 1: As Stage 5, but replace d12 with d4.

Stage 0: The PCs have the time distortions under control.

Success/Failure Criteria

After each completed combat encounter in the ruins, each PC may make an Arcana check (DC 32).

Success: More than half of the PCs that attempt the check succeed.

Failure: More than half of the PCs that attempt the check fail.

Table: Warped Time

This article presents a selection of these extraordinary locations as dynamic environments. Dynamic environments are similar to the fantastic terrain found in the 4th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide and Dungeon Master’s Guide 2; however, the effects change over time depending on the actions the player characters take. It is not an encounter by itself; rather it is added to encounters to provide a more distinct challenge and should therefore be taken into account when planning encounters. The PCs gain the XP for the environment only when they have moved the track to stage 0.

Using Dynamic Environments

Dynamic environments use a modified set of the disease rules. Each stage has an effect on all the PCs experiencing the encounter—nonplayer characters and monsters are not typically affected since they have acclimatized to the region, but this is at the DM’s discretion. Each dynamic environment is intended for long-term use with the PCs spending days or weeks within the region. The effects of the environment are apparent as soon as the PCs enter the area. The disease track begins in the initial stage and is moved when the PCs fulfill the success or failure criteria. The environment is in effect until the PCs leave the location or overcome it, which is when the track reaches stage 0.

All the locations are taken from the Midgard Campaign Setting book. The book is not necessary to use this article, but further information on each location can be found on the page numbers listed with the entries.

Plains of Rhos Khurgan (Page 79)

These plains are littered with red mounds—burial sites of an ancient race. The dead heroes are honored by the libations of blood and wine over ancient barrows. The spirits of those that rest here were the most skilful and devoted soldiers. They hunger for demonstrations of combat expertise and see poor combat skill as offensive. Any ineffective combat skill is punished to hasten the journey to the afterlife of those without skill. Some examples of this punishment include nudged arms as weapons are swung and the obscuring of eyes as spells are let loose.

The Plains of Rhos Khurgan     Level 3

Dynamic Terrain     XP 150

Stage 4: PCs deal 10 less damage with each attack.

Stage 3: PCs deal 7 less damage with each attack.

Stage 2 (initial): PCs deal 5 less damage with each attack.

Stage 1: PCs deal 3 less damage with each attack.

Stage 0: The spirits will interfere no more.

Success/Failure Criteria

Success: A player rolls a 19 or 20 on an attack roll.

Failure: A player rolls a 1 or 2 on an attack roll.

The Cursed Ley Lines of the Western Wastes (Page 160)

This area is stained with magical turmoil, which has warped the terrain into a supernatural wasteland. Magic is chaotic—as likely to fail completely as to be supercharged. Teleportation is erratic without ley lines as a guide. Adding to the danger of spellcasting, supernatural storms born of lingering violent magic can flay flesh from bone (see the Supernatural Weather table to randomly determine weather).

Cursed Ley Lines     Level 8

Dynamic Terrain     XP 350

Constant Penalty: The target square of any teleportation is 1d4–1 squares from the original target square in a random direction.

Stage 5: If a player rolls 16–20 on an arcane attack, they roll on the Augmented Magic table.

Stage 4: As stage 5 but replace 16–20 with 17–20.

Stage 3 (initial): As stage 5 but replace 16–20 with 18–20.

Stage 2: As stage 5 but replace 16–20 with 19–20.

Stage 1: As stage 5 but replace 16–20 with 20.

Stage 0: The ley lines function correctly.

Success/Failure Criteria

Success: A player scores a critical hit with an arcane attack.

Failure: A player misses all targets with an arcane attack.

Table: Augmented Magic

Table: Supernatural Weather

The BEMCI box sets included a fairly simple morale rule: During combat, the DM rolled 2d6 and compared it to the monster’s morale statistic. If it was higher, then the monster fled. Given the thousands of monsters for 4E released in the Monster Manuals and various adventure modules, assigning a new morale statistic to each of these creatures is unfeasible. So what kind of rule should be used to determine a monster’s morale? I’ve tested the following two options and found them both to be good.

1. Attack Against Will

A morale check could be an attack against the monster’s Will defense. There are two problems with this approach. The first is deciding what attack bonus to give the check. If we set it as the encounter level, then as the heroes level up, and face more epic opponents, it actually becomes easier for those godlike enemies to run away. The second problem is that unintelligent creatures such as zombies would be more likely to run away due to their low Will defense—representing their limited brain power and lack of Charisma, whereas unintelligent monsters shouldn’t consider running away to be a valid option and should fight to the death.

2. Morale Check

A morale check is a saving throw. Existing modifiers to saving throw rolls, such as the bonus from elites or solos, are taken into account. This check gets around the issues raised for a Will attack, but now every creature is likely to run away—it doesn’t matter if they are cowardly kobolds who want to gang up or berserker orcs.

To address these issues, a few fairly generic modifiers can be added to the morale check saving throw. Mindless creatures, such as oozes, undead, and elementals, shouldn’t make morale checks. If a monster with the leader role is present in an encounter, there should be a +2 bonus to the check. If the race is known for its warrior nature—dragonborn, warforged, hobgoblins, orcs, ogres, giants, and the like, then there should be a +2 bonus to the check. On the flipside, cowardly races or those renowned for their sneaky stealthy tendencies such as kobolds, goblins, or drow, should have a –2 penalty to the check. If the monsters outnumber the adventurers, they should have a +2 bonus to the check.

So, if a party of four adventurers was up against a group of five orc warriors and an orc Eye of Grummsh (elite leader), the DM would make morale checks with a +8 modifier (+2 from outnumbering, +2 from warlike race, +2 from leader, and +2 from elite).

When to Check

In basic D&D, there was a clear list of points on which each monster should make a morale check:

• the start of a fight
• the first time it is hit
• the first death
• half the creatures are dead

In 4th Edition, we have the bloodied value, which is an obvious trigger for a morale check. In addition, we’ll keep the criteria of when half the creatures are dead, and we’ll also make a morale check if a monster with the leader role is killed or fails a morale check.

What Happens When You Fail?

When a creature fails a check, it must attempt to flee the battle, and it spends its move action and standard action to move away from the adventurers toward an exit. Ideally, it will flee toward its allies in another room/location.

Summary of Morale Check Rules

Checks are made when:

• a creature becomes bloodied
• half of the monsters are dead
• a leader is killed or fails a morale check

The following bonuses and penalties are applied to a check:

• Leader present: +2
• Reputation for bravery: +2
• Reputation for cowardice: –2
• Monsters outnumber PCs: +2

Fanatics and Cowards

Earlier editions of D&D had a concept of fanatics, or creatures that could never fail a morale check, and cowards, or creatures that would always run away when combat started or as soon as they were hit. In 4E, they introduced monster themes, which is a nice way of representing these creatures. The following powers can be added to monsters to represent bravery or cowardice.

Fanatical Dedication * Encounter
Trigger: The creature makes a morale check.
Effect (Immediate Interrupt): The creature succeeds on the morale check and gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls and +5 bonus to damage rolls until the end of the encounter.

Fanatical Inspiration * At-Will
Trigger: A creature within 5 squares makes a morale check.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls and +2 bonus to damage rolls until the end of your next turn.

Coward’s Escape * Encounter
Trigger: The creature makes a morale check.
Effect (Immediate Interrupt): The creature fails the morale check. It gains a +2 bonus to speed, and it does not provoke opportunity attacks for the first square of movement. In addition, it gains a +2 bonus to its defenses against opportunity attacks.

Frame the Scene: Even when the GM suggests the scene, one player should be the focus of the scene. This player will frame the scene by describing where and when it takes place. Flashbacks are common, but scenes taking place in the future should be avoided except by more experienced and flexible groups.

The player should also describe what the intended goal is in the scene. Other players may choose to participate in the scene if it makes sense that they would be present. They also choose at this time whether to accept the current risk and reward proposal. They cannot create their own risks and rewards, but they can be in the scene without agreeing to the risk and reward.

Example 1 for Framing the Scene: Rob describes his character as being as a young apprentice struggling in one of the Bemmea’s academies. His character gets sent to Archmage Hugo’s advanced class with a message from another instructor just as the archmage begins expounding the virtues of a particular ancient rune. None of the other PCs have history in Bemmea so their PCs won’t be in this scene.

Example 2 for Framing the Scene: Mary describes how her character advances on the gate to the lord’s keep in a cocky manner. Her fighter can hear a horse whinny from the stables on the other side. The guards stop their chatter and look up at Mary’s character. A smile crosses one’s face as he recognizes her. Her armor may be fancier, but she doesn’t look so different from the upstart he tossed in the mud two years ago. Mary’s fighter cracks her knuckles and advances. The other players decide that they also want to be a part of the scene. Not only do they need mounts, but they also don’t want to miss this opportunity. Henry’s character doesn’t have many healing surges, however, and so he doesn’t accept the risk vs. reward. Mary offers to risk two surges so her fighter can steal an extra horse, and the GM agrees.

Play the Scene: There is no grid and no minis in a transition scene. The GM and each player describes character actions (both PC and NPC) as needed to advance the story of the scene, keeping in mind that the framing player is the focus. If some PCs are not present in the scene, the GM should feel free to invite them to play NPCs. After the scene has reached a climax or nears resolution, the GM should pause the scene. Generally scenes play out in just a few minutes.

Example 1 for Playing the Scene: Rob continues the story of how his character is intimidated by the legendary Archmage Hugo as he lectures. His character shrinks against the wall, unwilling to interrupt, and seems to go unnoticed. Something about that moment clicked for the young apprentice. He could almost remember the chalk images of the Rune of Undoing. Elliott remembers that Rob’s rival also went to the academy and suggests adding him as a student in the classroom so that he can join in on the roleplaying fun. Elliott roleplays how the rival notices Rob and calls him out as an outsider. Hugo is interrupted and turns on Rob’s PC in anger.

Example 2 for Playing the Scene: Mary’s fighter weaves in and out of the lord’s thugs, knocking them this way and that. Her fighter’s allies follow her lead, remembering the time they kept their footing on the deck of the longship Calibar amid a fight. Her fighter takes great joy as she knocks one guard into a mud hole and pushes his face down with the heel of her boot.

Resolve the Scene: Each player who did not accept the risk and reward votes on whether the scene ended favorably or unfavorably for the focus PC. The GM breaks any ties and casts the only votes if all the PCs accepted the risk and reward.

You then return to the scene and play out the ending, wrapping things up so the regular game can continue. If the scene ended favourably, the PC(s) get to keep the risked resource and gain the agreed reward. If the scene ended unfavourably, the PC(s) lose the risked resource but still gain a reward. The GM may decide that gaining the intended reward does not make sense and grant an alternative reward in its place.

In either case, we moved the story forward and were able to learn something about one of the PCs, which is the whole goal for transition scenes.

Example 1 for Resolving the Scene: Rob’s scene ends unsuccessfully because his character gained the ire of a wizard he respected and looked up to. So, the apprentice delivers the message and flees the room quickly. Rob hints that this may be one of the events that led to his general dislike of other arcanists of Bemmea, and it certainly explains his previously mentioned rivalry. The GM briefly considers granting a different reward, but decides that the emotional impact of the event is all the more reason why Rob’s character would remember what he saw. Rob makes a note that he gets a +2 Arcana bonus to a future roll to disarm a trap.

Example 2 for Resolving the Scene: Mary’s scene ends successfully. The party thrashes the lord’s guards and rides into the night with its ill-gotten mounts. Mary has also shown that her character has a vengeful streak and she possibly made her fighter into a target for the lord and his allies—excellent fodder for the GM to use in later sessions.

Players who are mechanically minded aren’t necessarily averse to roleplaying, but it can be hard to see the rewards for roleplaying beyond acquiring your next quest. Gaining XP or treasure for social scenes is the exception rather than the rule. So why would the player risk his or her most precious resource, which is time at the game table, on a crapshoot over the sure-fire reward system that is combat?

Transition scenes are an incentive system that encourages the players to help frame scenes in order to gain rewards they can use in combat or other situations. The scene may be a social scene or it may revolve around exploration or even combat. The key is that it has to expand the PC’s story, and the PC must be risking something to gain the reward. In this two-part series, we’ll first go over how to determine the type of scene and figure out the risk and reward for it. The second part provides you with guidelines and examples for how to frame, play out, and resolve the scene.

Determine the Type of the Scene: The first step is declaring that you want to begin a transition scene. The GM may want to suggest good places for scenes, but this is really a tool for the players. A PC is about to reveal something personal and take a risk to gain something, so it is very natural, and perfectly acceptable, for a player to request to start a transition scene.

The three types of transition scenes are social, exploration, and combat. Social scenes are the broadest type, representing characters interacting with each other. Scenes where characters are discussing their past, planning their next move, chatting up the mayor’s daughter, or talking their way into the duke’s gala are all social scenes.

Exploration scenes take the grid out of movement. They are about finding out what secrets lay ahead. Carefully making your way through the labyrinthine prison, scouting out ahead in the wilderness, and sneaking into your old thieves’ guild to swipe a map can all be handled with exploration scenes.

Combat scenes are the most common type of scene to be suggested by the GM. This is not meant to replace combat in general but should instead be used in place of combat that is too easy to be interesting or too difficult to give the PCs a real chance at victory using standard combat. Seasoned adventurers amid a bar brawl or a lone halfling being caught by an ancient red dragon can both be handled with a combat scene.

Backgrounds and themes are great fodder for scene ideas. They are mechanical representations of a PC’s history, and they help determine where a character came from in a way that is easy to use. Remember, a transition scene isn’t just a way for a player to get what he or she wants. They also reveal a bit of who a PC is.

Example 1 Set-Up: Rob knows that their next dungeon used to be the lair of a powerful wizard, so it will probably have arcane traps. He wants to set up a social scene, making use of his student of Bemmea background, where he remembers something he learned from a legendary mage.

Example 2 Set-Up: Mary knows her group has advanced well beyond that of the local lord’s goons, but she is still mad at the way he treated them at 1st level, and they could use some horses. She proposes a scene where they trounce some of the lord’s thugs and steal their new mounts.

Determine Risk vs. Reward: It is up to the player who serves as the focus of the scene to offer the risk and the reward for the scene. It is up to the GM to accept the terms of the scene. The GM can make a counteroffer, but the GM should not be looking for the upper hand. The goal is to reward the player’s initiative.

The most common risks are action points and healing surges. Both these tools are temporary boons, automatically earned and meant to be spent. They already have value to the player, but if they are lost, then they will eventually be replaced. Action points are a great risk for scenes where there is little physical danger. They represent the character extending himself or herself in some way. Healing surges work better for scenes where the characters are at a risk of injury. They are an abstraction of a PC’s long-term health. When risking healing surges, 1 per tier is a good base value.

Rewards are more varied and should be inspired by the scene itself.

Action Points: Rewarded for boosts in a character’s confidence, karma, motivation, or a divine boon.

Automatic Surprise Round: Rewarded for recovering information on an enemy’s movement, a foe’s plans, or a location’s layout.

+2 Bonus to Next Skill Check: Rewarded for acquiring a new tool, making a new contact, remembering an old experience, or discovering a new trick.

Healing Surges: Rewarded for training, recovery, or increased grit.

Mundane Treasure: Examples include mounts, letters of marque, or access to an alchemist lab. Rewarded for thieving, sweet-talking, or dealing with contacts.

Temporary Damage Resistance: Resist 5 per tier against a specific damage type for one encounter. Rewarded for magical buffs or divine favor, or when building up an immunity.

Example 1 for Risks and Rewards: Rob decides that his character is not really in danger in this scene so he’ll be risking an action point. His reward will be a +2 bonus to an Arcana check when he next comes across an arcane trap. The GM thinks this makes sense and agrees.

Example 2 for Risks and Rewards: Mary doesn’t think these goons pose any real threat to her fighter, so she proposes risking an action point for the horses. The GM counters that while she may be a higher level, a mob could still get in a few good hits and suggests she risk a healing surge instead. Mary considers this and agrees.