Devil’s Bargains
This campaign will use Devil’s Bargains as described in the Ginny Di video The DM Trick I Stole from Aabriya Iyengar.
The general premise is that when the situation calls for it, rather than rolling (or in some cases, in addition to rolling) to determine whether something happens, the DM will call for a Devil’s Bargin — what is the character (or the player) willing to sacrifice in order to achieve their goal? The DM and the player can negotiate the specific terms but the player can always opt out and choose to roll. The DM has exclusive authority to determine what kinds of sacrifices are appropriate for the desired gain.
Fear
We will also be using Fear tokens. In Daggerheart, when a player “rolls with fear” (rolls a higher number on their fear die than their hope die), the DM can take a turn and gains a fear token. In our game, fear tokens can emerge from specific mechanics or used as a bargaining chip in Devil’s Bargains.
When the DM has a fear token, they may roll 1d6 at any time to modify any action that the PC is performing or being performed against that PC. That is, they can roll 1d6 to subtract that amount from an attack roll, saving throw or ability check the PC attempts, or the DM can roll 1d6 and add the total to any die roll of an attack against the PC.
Fear tokens exist until expended and may stack, but if fear tokens were granted in a Devil’s Bargain, they may not be used against any character other than the one who made the Devil’s Bargain.