MARINA'S PLANS
Element Description
Event Rats become a noticeable problem in the streets,
with swarms sighted in rundown neighborhoods.
Folk demand that action be taken.
Action Caravan raids by goblinoids become more com-
mon, and folk talk of gathering a militia. Marina
contributes generously to the effort.
Action Warehouses are overrun with rats, ruining thou-
sands of gold pieces worth of goods. Marina
blames the city for a lax effort in pest control.
ActionEventActionIf the characters interfere, Marina sends her as-
sassins against them.
A sudden storm creates minor flooding, washing
dozens of dead, bloated, diseased rats from the
sewers. Terror over the plague rips through town.
Marina fans the flames of panic, spreading ru-
mors that the characters or other rivals in town
are responsible for the disease.EXAMPLE RIVAL: HIGH PRIEST CHELDAR
The temple of Pholtus, god of the sun, seeks to bring
as many folk as possible under its sway. Though it has
been in town for only two years, the temple is already a n
influential force because of the determination and the
brilliant oration of Che ldar, its hig h priest.
Goals. Cheldar wants to make the te mple of Pholtus
the most popular relig ion in town by bringing about
peace a nd security for a ll. He believes keeping adventur-
e r s in check or driving the m out of town is an important
step in that plan.
Assets. The charismatic high priest has his oratory
skill, divine spellcasting ability, and a few hundred com-
mon folk recently converted to the temple's cause.
Plans. Cheldar is stern but fundamentally a good per-
son. He tries to win support by providing charity, pro-
moting peace, and working to enforce law and order. He
is skeptical of the characters, however, convinced that
they are troublemakers who will undermine the peace.
He wants only officials of the town or the temple to be
involve d in handling a ny crises that arise. He strongly
believes in his goals, yet he might still be made into a n
ally by good-hearted characters.
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Element
EventActionActionEventActionDescription
The grand festival of Pholtus fills the streets
with somber worshipers, who maintain a day-
long torchlit vigil. They offer food, drink, and
shelter to all in the temple of Pholtus.
Cheldar, along with a small group of followers,
appears in a tavern frequented by adventurers
and seeks converts. A few NPC adventurers join
his cause.
In a public address in the town square, Cheldar
rails against the forces of chaos, laying blame
for recent troubles on adventurers who are med-
dling in things best left alone.
The characters find that all adventurers in town
receive an icy reception at best.
Cheldar demands that the city levy enormous
taxes on adventurers, claiming that they must
pay their fair share to keep the city safe.DOWNTIME ACTIVITIES
Downtime activit ies are tasks that usually take a work-
week (5 days) or longer to perform. T hese tasks can in-
clude buying or c reating magic items, pulling off crimes,
and working at a job. A character selects a downtime
activity from among t hose available and pays the cost
of that activity in time and money. You, as DM, then fol-
low the rules for the activity to resolve it, informing the
player of the results a nd any complications that ensue.
Cons ider handling downtime away from the game
table. For example , you could have the players pick their
downtime activities at the end of a session, and then
communicate about them by email or text, until you next
see them in person.RESOLVING ACTIVITIES
The description of each activity tells you how to resolve
it. Many activities require an ability check, so be sure to
note the character's relevant ability modifie rs. Follow
the steps in the activity, and determine the results.
Most downtime activities require a workweek (5 days)
to complete. Some activities require days, weeks (7
days), or months (30 days). A character must spend at
leas t 8 hours of each day engaged in the downtime activ-
ity for that d ay to count toward the activity's completion.
The days of a n activity don't need to be consecutive;
you can spread them over a longer period of time than is
required for the activity. But that period of time should
be no more than twice as long as the required time;
otherwise you should introduce extra complications (see
below) and possibly double the activity's costs to repre-
sent the inefficiency of the character's p rogress.COMPLICATIONS
The description of each activity includes a discussion
of complications you can throw at the characters. The
conseque nces of a complication might spawn entire
adventures, introduce NPCs to vex the party, o r give the
characte r s headaches or advantages in any number of
other ways.C HAPTER 2 I DUNGEON MAST.ER'S TOOLS