Research Projects
Heroes can undertake many different types of research downtime projects, which can involve seeking out new lore, improving existing knowledge with study, uncovering rumors or secrets, and more.
Unless a project has an event table of its own or a special event entry, the Director uses the Crafting and Research Events table for research project events.
Discover Lore
Item Prerequisite: None
Project Source: Texts or knowledge related to the subject you wish to research
Project Roll Characteristic: Reason
Project Goal: Varies (see the table)
If you want to track the location of a lost treasure, decipher a ritual, or trace the lineage of a royal family to find the next heir to the throne, you can start a downtime project to delve into whatever mysteries you seek to unravel. You might start a project to discover lore because the information can't be discovered through a single test, or you could do so because you failed a test to recall information and now want to learn it through research.
When you start a downtime project to discover lore, you choose the lore you want investigated and the questions you want answered. The Director tells you if the lore you seek amounts to common, obscure, lost, or forbidden knowledge. The more esoteric the knowledge, the more project points are required to find the answers you seek.
Discover Lore Project Goals Table
| Project | Goal |
|---|---|
| Common knowledge | 15 |
| Obscure knowledge | 45 |
| Lost knowledge | 120 |
| Forbidden knowledge | 240 |
Common Knowledge
Common knowledge is generally easy to discover with a day or so of research. It's not known by every passerby and takes time to uncover, but with plentiful local sources for the information, you don't need to spend a lot of time searching. It could be that you need to question several members of a rumor mill to figure out who a noble is not-so-secretly courting, or you might need to spend a few hours in a temple to find the particular religious text that carries a seldom-used alternative name for a deity.
Obscure Knowledge
Obscure knowledge is known only to specialized sages and is typically of interest only to those scholars. As such, precious few tomes are written on obscure subjects. Finding the right expert to interview or the best book to read typically requires several days of research. Uncovering the details of a ritual used to open and close a portal to the Sea of Stars isn't easy information to come by, but there are people out there who know how to do it—and who wrote the instructions down.
Lost Knowledge
Lost knowledge is so esoteric that even among a field's most dedicated scholars, there might be only one or two individuals who have dug deep enough to know that lore. Lost knowledge could come from a time so long ago that only a single text in a dead language now holds the lore you seek. Such lore often takes more than a week to hunt down. The location of a legendary steel dwarf's workshop is most likely lore that is lost—except for one map hidden in a private collection.
Forbidden Knowledge
Forbidden knowledge is lore that a powerful individual or organization is attempting to keep secret. Those who know the secrets speak of them in whispered codes after passwords are exchanged, and write texts using ciphers. Hunting down leads and making sense of them typically takes weeks. The location of the dagger that slit the throat of the god of death is hidden behind layers of encoded text and written in a dead language known only to that god's most devout followers.
Crafting and Research Events Table
| d100 | Event |
|---|---|
| 01-02 | After the roll, a thief who wants the project source or an item needed for the project approaches the hero and pretends to be someone who wants to help. The thief might want to sell the project source or item, or use it to undertake the same project as the hero. |
| 03-04 | Before the roll, a traveler in need of food, shelter, or some other necessity happens upon the heroes and asks for their help. If the heroes show kindness, the traveler reveals themself to be an artisan or sage who can help with the project. The traveler can contribute one project roll to the project with a +3 modifier. |
| 05-06 | Before the roll, an NPC who is already friendly with the characters and has helped them before asks the hero to let them join the project. The NPC explains that they need the project source or the object being crafted for a personal matter of great importance (saving someone's life, righting a great wrong, and so forth). The NPC can contribute one project roll to the project with a +3 modifier, but the characters must commit to letting the NPC use the finished project before they can do so. |
| 07-08 | After the roll, the hero receives a mysterious note from a person who wants to exchange a treasure or other reward for the project source when the project is complete. The buyer could be someone with their own interest in a similar project, an enemy eager to exploit what the hero is working on, or a superfan who wants to emulate the hero. |
| 09-10 | Before the roll, a pest starts devouring important components of the project. This could be rats gnawing at alchemical components, moths eating rare silks, mites devouring a printed project source, and so forth. If the pests aren't dealt with quickly, some of the components will need to be replaced. |
| 11-12 | Before the roll, a powerful supernatural entity sends an agent or premonition to the hero, offering them knowledge that will let them complete the project immediately. In exchange, the hero must agree to do a favor for the entity, which might not be specified at the time of the bargain. |
| 13-14 | Before the roll, a rumor arises that the project is being worked on in service to an evil entity. People start showing up to the hero's place of respite, demanding that they repent their wicked ways. If the rumors aren't disproved, locals form a mob to stop the project. |
| 15-16 | Before the roll, the hero's rival comes to visit and shows off a guide for the project. The rival is willing to hand the guide over... provided the hero publicly humiliates themself by proclaiming that the rival is their better. |
| 17-18 | The project source is cursed. Before the roll, the hero must succeed on a hard Intuition test or become obsessed with the project. Until the project is complete, the hero can't use Victories to increase their Heroic Resource. The curse can be broken by slaying the creature who bestowed it, or by finding a priest to perform a holy ritual over the project source. |
| 19-20 | Before the roll, the hero finds that a significant amount of the project has been completed by a group of fairies. The fairies might have completed the job out of boredom, or they might want something from the hero in return. |
| 21-22 | After the roll, the hero realizes that the project source contains only half the information they need, and they must find the rest of the information to complete the project. |
| 23-24 | After the roll, the hero discovers a new bit of knowledge or a technique that allows them to immediately start and finish a second project with a project goal of 50 or lower. |
| 25-26 | Before the roll, the hero finds that someone has attempted to sabotage their project, resulting in damage to notes, the project source, or crafting components. The damage is negligible, but the creature responsible will strike again to worse effect if not discovered. |
| 27-28 | Before the roll, the project source is found to hold additional information, letting the hero treat the project roll as an automatic breakthrough. The note could have been left by a helpful visitor, or by someone who wants the hero's work to be finished for their own gain. |
| 29-30 | After the roll, the project draws the attention of a devil, who tries to subtly change the project source from the Seven Cities of Hell. If the hero doesn't notice, the devil is summoned the next time the hero makes a project roll, with goals of the Director's determination. |
| 31-32 | Before the roll, the hero stumbles upon a tool, expert, or book that helps them with the project, letting them treat the project roll as an automatic breakthrough. |
| 33-34 | After the roll, the project source suddenly becomes impossible to understand. A psionic NPC has used a mighty power to obscure or corrupt the project source to prevent a potential catastrophe they foresaw. If the heroes can help prevent the catastrophe in another way, the NPC will end the effect. |
| 35-36 | After the roll, the hero discovers that the project source contains a piece of helpful knowledge unrelated to the current project. |
| 37-38 | Before the roll, the hero learns that several sages working on similar projects have all mysteriously disappeared. Someone or something is abducting these experts for some nefarious purpose... and the hero could be next! |
| 39-40 | After the roll, a group of scholars approach the hero and ask if they can review the project source, promising to help the hero complete the project in return. If the hero accepts, the scholars take the project source until the end of the hero's next respite. Three of the scholars then contribute project rolls during the following respite, each with a +3 modifier. |
| 41-42 | After the roll, a physical project source or crafting components come to life and attack the hero. Magic within these items has become corrupted! If the hero can fix the corruption without destroying the items, the project is saved, but doing so requires a special ritual. |
| 43-44 | After the roll, an otherworldly specter appears and warns the hero not to complete the project, explaining that they died attempting the same project and are now attached to the project source. If the hero can convince the spirit that they will not die similarly, the creature shares their knowledge, contributing one project roll to the project with a +3 modifier. |
| 45-46 | Before the roll, the servants of a dragon appear and demand that the hero hand over the project source. If the hero refuses, the servants warn that the dragon will come to claim the project source for themself. |
| 47-48 | Before the roll, the hero notices a contract written on a physical project source or other accompanying materials that appears only under certain conditions (in the presence of magic, in the light of a full moon, and so forth). The contract promises that anyone who signs it in blood will receive the true and full answer to three questions, in exchange for a week of service to the hag Corrine Withersnipe. The hag appears instantly if the contract is signed. |
| 49-50 | After the roll, an unexpected total eclipse of the sun occurs, lasting 1 hour. Once per respite when any creature makes another project roll for the project, another eclipse occurs and lasts twice as long as the previous. Some take this phenomenon as a sign of impending doom that will descend when the project is completed. Others believe that a powerful enemy is trying to scare the heroes into not finishing the project. |
| 51-52 | Before the roll, the hero gets a visit from an NPC who they helped in the past. The NPC has found a guide that relates to the project and gives it to the hero as a gift of thanks. |
| 53-54 | After the roll, a local officer of the law appears and tells the hero to stop working on their project. The nature of the hero's project has just become outlawed in the region, and the constable insists on locking up the project source and arresting anyone who gets in the way. |
| 55-56 | Before the roll, the hero determines that the research or crafting they are planning requires only part of their attention. They can either make two project rolls for their current project, or can make one for that project and one for another project. |
| 57-58 | After the roll, a component or tool the hero is using for the project suddenly reveals itself to be magic or psionic as it starts to hum with energy and glow red hot. If the item isn't quickly cooled, it explodes, and work on the project can't continue until a replacement is found. |
| 59-60 | Before the roll, the hero realizes they're at a critical point in the project, and can achieve more if they just shave off a few hours of rest. By choosing to lose some sleep, the character can make two project rolls for the project, but when they end the current respite, they do so with 1 fewer Recoveries than usual. |
| 61-62 | Before the roll, a sage approaches the hero and offers to help with the project. This NPC isn't really a sage, however—they're an assassin hoping to catch the hero off guard. |
| 63-64 | Before the roll, a sage approaches the hero and offers to help with the project. This NPC isn't really a sage, however—they're a bard who wishes to compose a song about the hero's deeds. The NPC is to ingratiate themself to the hero while contributing nothing to the actual project. |
| 65-66 | After the roll, a physical project source or a component of the project creates an unstable portal to another world related to the nature of the project. Tiny devils, elementals, or other creatures start clawing their way out of the item and causing mischief. |
| 67-68 | After the roll, the hero realizes that the project source also holds information regarding the location of another project source or certain items, which are needed for another project the hero or one of their allies wants to pursue. |
| 69-70 | Before the roll, a group of enemies working for the campaign's villain attacks the hero, intent on destroying as much of the project's source or other resources as possible. |
| 71-72 | Before the roll, a storm moves into the area that threatens to persist until the project is completed. The closer to completion the hero gets on the project, the more violent the storm becomes. It's possible that the storm is conscious, or that someone is controlling the storm to stand in the hero's way. |
| 73-74 | After the roll, the hero falls asleep. They go on to complete the project in their dreams, but they have no access to that progress while they're awake. The hero can rectify this by finding a way to physically enter into their dreams, where the completed project can be found. |
| 75-76 | Before the roll, a band of goblins barge in on the hero. If the hero has been fighting goblins on their recent adventures, the goblins attempt to run away with the project source. Otherwise, the goblins are merely curious about the project, and the hero can make two project rolls if they choose to explain it and have the goblins help. |
| 77-78 | After the roll, the hero watches as any progress made is reversed—as if the project were moving backward through time. Any character familiar with psionics recognizes the phenomena as a chrono-anomaly. The project loses the same amount of progress each successive night until the hero finds and stops the source of the anomaly, which restores the project's progress. |
| 79-80 | Before the roll, the hero hears a voice beckoning them into the nearest wode to work on their project. Each time the hero makes a project roll in the wode, they make three times the progress but feel more pressure to stay in the wode forever. |
| 81-82 | After the roll, the hero stumbles upon knowledge of an expert a day's travel away who could complete the project, and who possesses a project source or guide for another hero's project. |
| 83-84 | Before the roll, fire rips through the hero's project source or other materials and threatens to destroy the entire project. If the hero puts out the fire before everything is lost, they find that the fire activated secret notes that double each subsequent project roll for the project. |
| 85-86 | After the roll, a auteur NPC approaches the hero and asks if they would like to make the project "a little more exciting." If the hero agrees, the auteur narrates the hero's progress on the project, prompting another project roll. If the second roll is lower than the first, the hero subtracts the second roll from the original roll. If it's equal or higher, the hero adds the second roll to the original roll. |
| 87-88 | Before the roll, the hero's rival reluctantly comes seeking the hero's help on their own project. If the hero agrees, the hero makes their project roll toward the rival's project, and the Director makes the rival's project roll toward the hero's project. |
| 89-90 | After the roll, the hero completes their work on the project earlier than expected, and can either relax or go carousing with other heroes who are free. The hero and every character who joins them starts the next encounter with 10 temporary Stamina. |
| 91-92 | Before the roll, the hero is approached by a wagoneer who needs help fixing their wagon. If the hero helps, they find out that the wagoneer is allied with the campaign's villain. If the hero doesn't attack or threaten the wagoneer, then in some future combat, an NPC of the Director's choice turns out to be a friend or relative of the wagoneer. They leave the battle peacefully when they recognize the hero. |
| 93-94 | After the roll, the project source and any evidence of the project disappear into thin air. Any investigation of the area turns up footprints fleeing the scene and traces of gnoll hair. |
| 95-96 | After the roll, the hero suddenly no longer understands or comprehends the project source after focusing on those materials for too long. If they continue with the project, they take a bane on its project rolls for the next two respites. If they leave the project alone for the next two respites, they'll be able to comprehend the research again, gaining an automatic breakthrough before the next project roll. |
| 97-98 | Before the roll, part of the hero's project source or other materials shrinks and is pulled through a mousehole. A group of radenwights sent magical mice to steal the resources so they can finish their own project. The radenwights are willing to negotiate if the hero doesn't approach them aggressively. |
| 99-100 | Before the roll, an elemental springs forth from the project source and pulls the hero into a duel. If the hero can survive 3 rounds of combat with the elemental on their own, the elemental vanishes and leaves behind a completed project. If the hero flees, falls unconscious, or gets help from an ally, the elemental destroys the project source as they disappear. |
Go Undercover
Item Prerequisite: Special
Project Source: None
Project Roll Characteristic: Intuition or Presence
Project Goal: 15
Going undercover to spy on a group of people is a cheap and easy way to find information you're looking for. Choose an organization when you undertake this activity. Completing this project grants you access to maps, knowledge about an organization's operations, or some other piece of knowledge that would be considered common or obscure (see the Discover Lore project).
At the Director's discretion, you must have a disguise, a signet ring, a special tattoo, or some other indication that you belong to the organization in order to start this project. Additionally, the Director can decide that the knowledge you seek can't be gained through this project, but must be sought out by infiltrating the organization as part of an adventure.
Complications
This project has its own special complications. The first time you complete this project for an organization, you have a 25 percent chance of being caught. Each time you complete this project again with the same organization, the chance of being caught increases by 25 percent and the project goal increases by 30. If you are caught while going undercover, members of the organization pursue you ruthlessly as the Director determines.
Additionally, while you work to complete this project, you might be called upon by the organization to complete a task you might not want to do. Failure to complete the task leads to you being caught. You can avoid the task by fleeing the organization, but this prevents you from completing the project and makes it impossible for you to undertake this project again with the same organization.
Hone Career Skills Events Table
| d10 | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Before the roll, an old colleague from the hero's past asks the hero to give up adventuring and come back to their former career. A hero who reaffirms their intent to remain a hero gains a hero token. However, if they do so—or if they lie to say they will return to their old career—the project goal increases by 50 points as their old colleague refuses to help them. |
| 2 | After the roll, the hero is hurt on the job. They end the respite with 1 fewer Recoveries than usual. |
| 3 | Before the roll, the hero stumbles upon an individual seeking guidance about entering the same career as the hero. If the hero forgoes their project roll to help this NPC, the individual becomes one of the hero's followers, which they gain in addition to any followers acquired through Renown or other means. The follower is an artisan or a sage depending on the hero's career, as the Director determines. |
| 4 | After the roll, the hero finds inspiration from their old life that helps out with a different project they or another hero are currently working on. The hero working on the second project can immediately make a project roll for that project. |
| 5 | Before the roll, the hero stumbles into a negative aspect of their career that they forgot was particularly grueling. If the project roll is 11 or lower, it is halved. |
| 6 | After the roll, the hero learns rumors of a treasure of the Director's choice that other members of the hero's previous career are seeking. If the hero doesn't seek the treasure ahead of time, they automatically determine where the treasure is to be found when they complete their project. |
| 7 | Before the roll, a vaguely familiar stranger in the same career asks if they can work with the hero on their project. If the hero accepts their help, the stranger makes one project roll for the project with a +2 modifier. Only afterward does the hero learn whether the stranger supports their motivation for working on the project or whether they work for the campaign's villain. |
| 8 | After the roll, the hero strangely feels 5 years younger. Any character familiar with psionics recognizes the phenomena as a chrono-anomaly. The hero grows younger each time they make progress on the project—but will cease to exist if they complete the project without first finding and stopping the source of the anomaly. |
| 9 | Before the roll, the hero stumbles upon an old memento from when they worked their former career. They can choose between gaining an automatic breakthrough on the project roll or gaining a hero token. |
| 10 | After the roll, the hero gets back into the rhythm of their former career. They can make two additional project rolls. |
Hone Career Skills
Item Prerequisite: None
Project Source: None
Project Roll Characteristic: Intuition
Project Goal: 240 if your career granted you two skills, or 360 if your career granted you three skills
You revisit your previous life to freshen up on the experience it provided you. When this project is complete, you gain an edge on tests made using the skills provided by your career.
Learn From a Master
Item Prerequisite: None
Project Source: An NPC of a higher level, or records of such an NPC's teachings in a language you know
Project Roll Characteristic: Your highest characteristic
Project Goal: Varies
When you seek to learn from a master, you choose the goal you wish to work on as well as the benefit you would gain from it. The Director tells you whether the master or the materials they've left behind are able to teach you what you want to learn.
Learn From a Master Events Table
| d10 | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | After the roll, the hero experiences a revelation and all their training snaps into place. The hero makes two additional project rolls for this project. |
| 2 | Before the roll, the master dies midway through training, or the lore they left behind is found to be incomplete. To complete the project, the hero must seek out another master who was trained by the first master, or find another copy of the records of their teaching. Before the roll, the hero discovers that although the master's knowledge is sound, |
| 3 | they are less adept at the teaching of that knowledge. The project requires an additional 50 project points to complete. |
| 4 | Before the roll, the master requires the hero's aid with manual labor before their training can begin. The hero must spend this respite completing that labor, earning a hero token for their efforts instead of making a project roll. |
| 5 | Before the roll, the hero must undertake the master's grueling training regimen. The hero rolls an additional d10 for the project roll during this respite, but at the end of the respite, they regain 1 fewer Recoveries than usual. |
| 6 | After the roll, the hero's relationship with the master deepens. In addition to the current project, the master provides information relevant to the hero's goals, another project, or a surprising connection to a mystery from the hero's past. |
| 7 | Before the roll, the hero discovers that the master has been working with an enemy of the hero by covertly providing them information about the hero's activities. The hero can continue learning from the master, but risks exposing themself and their allies to danger by doing so. |
| 8 | After the roll, an accident, fire, or other natural disaster disrupts the hero's training. The project points rolled for this respite are halved, but if the hero acts to stop the disaster, their heroism sees them earn 1 Renown. |
| 9 | After the roll, the master gifts the hero with an item prerequisite for a crafting project. |
| 10 | After the roll, the hero uncovers a secret in their studies, something that the master had never anticipated or that their teachings hadn't covered. The project goal is halved. |
Learn from Master Project Goals Table
| Project | Goal |
|---|---|
| Hone ability | 120 |
| Improve control | 500 |
| Acquire ability | 1,000 |
Acquire Ability
You gain one signature ability of your choice from the master's class (gaining a second signature ability if the master is of the same class as you). If the master is a tactician, you can gain the Strike Now ability instead. You can't gain this benefit again for the same class.
Hone Ability
You sharpen the effectiveness of one of your abilities of your choice. Choose between adding a +1/+1/+1 damage bonus to the ability, or improving the distance of a ranged ability by 2. An ability can be honed only once this way.
Improve Control
You learn to use one of your heroic abilities more efficiently, reducing its baseline Heroic Resource cost by 1 (to a minimum of 1). An ability can only be improved this way once.
Learn New Language
Item Prerequisite: None
Project Source: Texts or instruction that teaches the language you want to learn
Project Roll Characteristic: Reason or Intuition
Project Goal: 120
When you start this project, choose a language taught by the project source. When the project is complete, you understand the language.
Learn New Skill
Item Prerequisite: None
Project Source: Texts or instruction that teaches the skill you want to learn
Project Roll Characteristic: Reason or Intuition
Project Goal: 120
When you start this project, choose a skill taught by the project source. When the project is complete, you have that skill.
Perfect New Recipe
Item Prerequisite: Varies
Project Source: A recipe in a language you know, or someone who can tutor you in that recipe
Project Roll Characteristic: Reason or Intuition
Project Goal: 100
When you start this project, you choose a recipe for a specific type of dish. The item prerequisite for the project is the ingredients required, which depend on the recipe and which might be difficult to acquire depending on the recipe and its place of origin. You gain a +3 bonus to the project roll if the recipe is one from your culture.
When you complete the project, you can make five servings of food from the recipe as a respite activity whenever you have access to the ingredients. You and other creatures taking a respite with you can eat a serving of the food and gain its benefits (see below).
A creature who eats a serving of food from a particular type of recipe gains one of the following benefits, which lasts until the creature takes another respite.
- Comforting: When the creature fails a saving throw, they can choose to succeed instead. This benefit then ends.
- Hearty: The creature increases their Recoveries by 1 at the end of the respite in which the food is consumed.
- Supernatural Power: The creature temporarily increases one of their characteristic scores by 1 (to a maximum of 6).
A creature can benefit from the food of only one recipe at a time, and can't benefit from more than one serving of a recipe at a time.
Recipe Table
| Type of Recipe | Item Prerequisite | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Modern | Common ingredients (flour, carrots, beef, and so forth) | Hearty |
| Vintage or home | Key ingredients (starfruit, kindleseeds, oarfish, and so forth) | Comforting |
| Ancient or lost | Rare or extinct ingredients (honeylilies, steel apples, and so forth) | Supernatural power |