•
'H
SENDING STONE
RUMOR MILL
A lso at r ank 2, w henever your franchise begins a maj or
quest or mission, make a DC 15 Intelligence (History)
check. On a success, you can learn up to three r umors
related to creatures or organizations involved in the
mission. which come to you through your sending stone.
These rumors reflect current or historical knowledge
possessed by Acquisitions Incorporated or the organiza-
tion's many contacts.
CARDS OF SENDING
At rank 3. the pow er of your portfolio keeper becomes
more potent. making it a rare magic item. When you
give out a business card stored in your portfolio keeper.
you can choose to have the card allow its recipient to
contact you through your sending s tone as if they had
cast a sending spell. A business card loses this power
se ven days after it has been given out. and no more than
five cards can have this power at one time.
You can also use your sending s tone to cast sending
and contact anyone who has one of your business cards.
Once you use this feature of the stone, you cannot use it
again until dawn seven days later.
IMPROVED R U MOR MILL
At r ank 3, w hen you use your Rumor Mill feature, the
DM prov ides you with a sense of which parts of a par tic-
ular rumor arc inaccurate, if any. You do not necessarily
learn the truth behind th ose false rumors.
ALWAYS HIRING
At rank 4, you have little trouble finding the right peo-
ple for the j ob. As an act ion. while in a populated area,
you can make a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check to
locate an NPC who can provide a service immediately,
no questions asked , for t he standard fee (se e .. Services"
in chapter 5 of the Player's Handbook). On a successful
check, information regarding the potential hire comes
to you as supernatural insight. word of mouth, an ad-
vertisement blowing into your face, or a similarly conve-
nient method. Once you use this feature, you cannot use
it again until y ou finish a long rest.
Hirelings acquired through this feature are in addition
to any franchise staff. They can be invited to bolster
existi ng staff or fill a sudden need , but t hey are not part
CllAPTF.R 2 I CROWING YOUR •RAJ\CHISE
of the baseline staff gained through a franchise's rank.
Their pay is not covered by th e franchise's normal costs.
C H ARMING INTRODUCTION
A lso at rank 4. you are able to make a focused effort to
keep a potential customer's attention. When you provide
a humanoid with a business card from your portfolio
keeper. you can cast charm person on them (save DC
15). T he spell ends prematurely if the character loses
the business card.
WH Y BE A SECRETARIAN?
d 8 Reas on
You believe that people shouldn't work harder; they
should work smarte r. And then they should work
harder.
2 You've a lways yearned to be in the people business,
because inanimate objects can' t pay you.
3 Bei ng able to hand out "Em ployee of the Month"
sticke rs has been a life-lon g d ream.
4 You believe that customer loyalty can't be bought, but
that it c an be rented at reasonable te rms and rates.
5 Your habit of constantly telling other p eo p le how they
can improve makes you a master of performa nce
reviews.
6 Yo u've always b elieved that the c u s tomer is satisfied
whe n you say the customer is sa tisfied, and not a
s econd be fo re.
7 You love the joy that other people get when you tell
them what to do.
8 Buzzwords was your first language.
FRANCHISE T A SKS AND
DOWNTIME
As talked about in the Player's Handbook and the Dun-
geon Master's Guide, downtime activities allow players
and DMs to make the breaks between advemures into
a compelling par t of th e campaign. In between t he
highlights of slogging through dungeons, i nfiltrating
death cults, and being generally heroic. characters can
practice professions. engage in research. create special
items, and indulge other activities beyond adventuring.
Because an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign is
focused on th e franC'hise, downtime is typically a big
part of the game. (The adventure that makes up chapter
4 of this book ... The Orrery of the Wanderer,'' sets up
downtime options between adventure episodes as a key
component of the campaign.) But an Acq Inc campaign
offers even more robust options for characters who want
to get things done outside adventuring time. because the
heroes of an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign have
something that most adventurers don't- a well-paid
(okay. an occasionally paid) staff.
In addition to th e downtime activities characters un-
dertake on their own, the hard-w orking subemployees
and interns of a franchise can carry out orders and fur-
ther the characters' goals through research, crafti ng. so-
cial encounters, and so forth. This lets the players direct
behind-th e-scenes activities even as the characters focus
