For the Director: Project Events¶
Project events are story events that present boons and challenges to heroes as they complete research and crafting projects. These events are entirely optional. If your group prefers a game where the heroes simply work toward their goals by making project rolls, that's fine. But using these events can help a Director inject more drama into the processes of research and crafting.
When To Use Project Events¶
Projects don't need an event every time a hero makes a project roll. If they did, the heroes would likely spend all their time trying to manage their projects and never do any adventuring. Instead, you as the Director pick one of the following methods to determine when an event occurs during a downtime project. You can always switch up the method you use during a campaign, doing whatever you think works best for the current situation.
Roll for Event¶
If you want events to be a surprise for you as much as for the other players, then once during any respite when one or more heroes makes a project roll, roll a d6. On a 6, an event occurs. This is a good option if you enjoy coming up with story on the fly during play.
Event Milestones¶
If you want to guarantee that events occur during a downtime project, use event milestones based on project points. When the project accrues a certain number of points, an event occurs the next time a hero wants to make a project roll. This approach works well if you want to plan your event in detail before it occurs.
You can use the Suggested Event Milestones table to determine when an event should occur during a project.
Suggested Event Milestones¶
| Project Goal | Milestones |
|---|---|
| 30 or fewer | None |
| 31-200 | One event halfway to the goal |
| 201-999 | Two events at one-third and two-thirds of the way to the goal |
| 1,000 or more | Three events at one-quarter, one-half, and three-quarters of the way to the goal |
Whenever You Want¶
Whenever you think the heroes could use a little drama during a respite, throw in an event. This approach allows you to plan an event in detail when a downtime project starts, then deploy it at the most dramatic moment—or even throw it in during an encounter if you're feeling saucy!
Deploying Events¶
A project event occurs when a hero makes a project roll. You can roll for or choose an event from the appropriate events prompts table, or use the tables to inspire your own events. Each event entry on the table is a narrative prompt written for you as the Director, and which you can change and flesh out as you determine. Each event specifies whether it occurs before or after the project roll is resolved.
Automatic Breakthrough¶
If an event grants an automatic breakthrough on a downtime project, the project gains 20 project points and the hero can make another project roll for the same project as part of the same respite activity.