Acquisitions Incorporated

ESTABLISH GOALS

When the characters select a franchise task, the players

share their goals for that task with the OM. Having clear

motives helps establish the stakes and provides ideas

that the DM can weave into the campaign story. The DM

might work up a narrative based on the players' initial

discussions, and might ask additional questions to help

narrow down options.

As an example, tonsider a group of characters whose

franchise headquarters is a submersible ship. and

whose staff are la rgely former pirates. While the char-

acters head out for a mission on the mainland, they

di rect t he ship's staff-member captain to surprise other

vessels and liberate goods from them. The DM decides

that such acts of piracy fit the shady business practice

activity (introduced later in this section), and quickly

s ketches out a few ideas for the task.

OPENI NG SCENE

T he OM describes the beginning of the task activity,

setting the stage for the NPCs' actions. For the sub-

mersible headquarters discussed above, the DM might

begin to describe how the ship leaves port in search of

easy prey. The captain and crew are in a good mood.

There's a storm in the area, bul it doesn't threaten the

s ubmersible. The DM might ask the players to describe

a few undertakings the crew can engage in to pass the

time, or m ight even ask players to temporarily take on

the roles of one or more staff members. helping to bring

those NPCs to life through roleplaying.

ABILITY CHECK SCENES
For each ability check required by a franchise task, the
DM describes what's happening, determines the appli-
cable ability, and decides whether a skill or tool profi-
ciency is appropriate (usually as suggested in the activity
write-up). Whether the check is made by a staff member
or the character who directed or set up the franchise
task, a player makes the roll. The DM can encourage
roleplaying by asking about what kind of guidance a
character provided to the staff member, or what part of
the staff member's background makes them good at the
task at hand. The OM then describes successive scenes
based on checks and roleplaying as the crew members
locate a likely target ship and commence their attack.

CONCLUDING SCENE
The DM determines the overall outcome for the fran-
chise task, then narrates the outcome to wrap up that
small part of the overall story. If the check for the activ-
ity indicates any degree of success, the DM descr ibes
how t he fr anchise's pirates manage to grab some valu-
able cargo, in addit ion to other benefits as noted in the
write-up for the shady business practice activity. With
treasure aboard, the ship is ready for the characters'
eventual return.

ONGOING STORY
Rather than treating franchise tasks as isolated epi-
sodes, the DM can weave the story of one task into the
next, and can tie franchise tasks into the overarching
campaign. Doing so assigns importance to franchise

CHAPTER 2 I GROWING YOUR FRANCHISE

DOWNTIME ACTIVITIES

This section introduces the foll owing new downtime ac-

tivities, all of which can be used as franchise tasks in an

Acquisitions Incorporated campaign: explore t errit ory,

franchise restructuring, headquarters modification, mar-

keteering, philanthropic enterprise, running a franchise,

scrutineering, shady business practice, schmoozing, team

building.

Other downtime activities can be found in the fol-

lowing books:

Player's Handbook (chapter 8): Crafting, practicing a pro-

fession, recuperating, research, training

Dungeon Master's Guide (chapter 6): Building a stronghold,

carousing, crafting a magic item, gaining renown, per-

forming sacred rites, running a business, selling magic

items, sowing rumors, training t o gain levels

Xanathar's Guide to Everything (chapter 2): Buying a magic

item, carousing, crafting an item, crime, gambling, pit

fighting, relaxation. religious service, research, scribing a

spell scroll, selling a magic item, training, work

tasks, and lets the players understand how the success

or failure of those tasks might drive the campaign. Even

after a specific franchise task has concluded, the DM

can make notes for how that task might tie to future

tasks. For the characters running the submersible

franchise, the ship that fought off the franchise's pirates

might remember a few details about the franchise crew.

Or perhaps the plundered vessel belongs to a franchise

rival. or even a foreign dignitary the characters w ill

eventually meet. setting up a future plot twist.

COMPLICATIONS AND RIVALS

The franchise and downtime activities introduced in this

section all incorporate the idea that such activities can

introduce ongoing complications to the campaign, and

that anything a franchise's characters or employees do

might bring the franchise into conflict with rivals.

If you useXanathar's Guide to Everything in your

games, you're probably already familiar with complica-

tions and rivals as part of downtime, but you don't need

to own that book to make use of these ideas. Rather, just

remember that an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign

is always about story. Each time the characters engage

in downtime or direct their staff in a franchise task. the

players and the OM can think about how those tasks

and activities might complicate the ongoing campaign

narrative, and how the fr anchise's enemies- or potential

enemies- might get caught up in those complications.

When a complication or a rival comes into play duri ng

downtime or franchise activities, the DM deter mines the

particulars. The activities presented at the end of this

section all come with tables of possible complications,

but the DM is free to come up w ith even more dastardly

complications to suit the campaign.