Players will receive divine intervention cards for the same kinds of activities that would earn inspiration:
- play out a personality trait in an exceptional way
- voluntarily accept a setback dictated by a flaw or bond
- achieve a campaign accomplishment
- take a daring or dramatic action in combat
- accept a setback from the DM
A divine intervention card is a standard playing card. The value and suit of the card determine what divinity or divine servant is watching the PC at that moment.
Players use divine intervention cards to create in-game effects. The cards represent what deity is intervening, and the number of cards played determine what effect is created. A player tells a story that explains why a particular deity is intervening at that moment and how the effect of the intervention plays out. The story and effect need to be relevant to the deity represented on the card or cards the player possesses. If the DM approves the story, the appropriate number of cards are spent and the effect occurs.
Divine Intervention Levels
- 1 Card: A deity intervenes passively or inadvertently.
- 2 Cards: A deity intervenes actively but remains hidden; the effect is visible but the deity is not.
- 3 Cards: A deity intervenes actively and visibly.
Divine Intervention Procedure
- Identify the deity who is intervening by selecting one of the deities represented by the cards being played (not required for a one-card effect).
- Select the effect desired for the number of cards being played.
- Tell a story explaining why that deity is intervening and what the intervention looks like based on the effect desired.
- If the DM approves your story, spend the required number of cards.
Divine Intervention Effects
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1 card effects (require a story but not a deity)
- Gain advantage on a single d20 roll.
- Impose disadvantage on a single d20 roll.
- After a d20 is rolled, adjust it by +/-2.
- Reroll all damage dice for a single attack/effect, taking the result that is more favorable to you.
- Ignore any amount of exhaustion until the start of your next turn.
- As a bonus action, spend a Hit Die to recover hit points.
- Declaration: The player creates a minor aspect for the scene or encounter -- change a minor environmental feature, introduce a reasonable object or NPC, or add a minor condition or experience to an existing object or individual.
- Information: The DM reveals an answer to a simple question, typically ‘yes/no’ or ‘weal/woe.’
- Plan: The player declares that a simple plan was executed previously to prepare for this moment in some way (e.g., have the right tool, be in the right place, etc.).
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2 card effects
- Reroll any d20 roll, taking the result that is more favorable to you.
- A single attack/effect deals maximum or minimum damage.
- Take an extra action on your turn.
- Ignore the effects of any condition until the start of your next turn.
- Add a type to a single attack/effect (e.g., fire, magical, etc.).
- As a bonus action, spend up to ½ your total Hit Dice to recover hit points.
- Declaration: The player creates a medium aspect for the scene or encounter -- alter the environment in a substantial way, introduce an unlikely object or NPC, or add a significant condition or experience to an existing object or individual.
- Information: The DM reveals an unobvious but important layer of knowledge about a subject at hand.
- Plan: As a 1 card effect, but the plan affects the other PCs as well.
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3 card effects
- A single d20 roll succeeds or fails.
- A successful d20 roll becomes a critical success, or a failed d20 roll becomes a critical failure.
- Take an extra turn immediately.
- End a condition affecting you.
- As a bonus action, spend any amount of Hit Dice to recover hit points.
- A short rest becomes as effective as a long rest for you, or you gain the benefits of a short rest in 10 minutes.
- Declaration: As a 2 card effect, but multiple objects and individuals can be affected and involved.
- Information: The DM reveals all information about a subject at hand, but vagaries may persist.
- Plan: As a 2 card effect, but the plan incorporates NPCs and significant resources.
Other Aspects
- A player may invoke divine intervention on another player’s character by reducing the level of effect by one step (e.g., a 2 card effect invoked on another character would cost 3 cards). The intervention story must still involve the card player’s character in some way.
- No player may hold more than 5 cards at a time.
- Each player can invoke divine intervention no more than once a round.
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DM cards
- The DM starts the session with a pool of cards, the number of which equals the number of players. These cards can be used by any enemy at any time or by the DM to impact player activities. The DM will tell a story to explain the circumstances generated by the card(s).
- Named villains each have his or her own single card that can be expended alone or in combination with the cards in the pool.
- When all members of the party are awarded a card for something, one card is also added to the DM pool. Individual player awards will not result in a card being added to the DM pool.