Tempered Soul/Usage Log: Difference between revisions
Append Session 54 spends block — anathema Command DC 24, six harvest spends, new Guidance/harvest rulings, Keyleth domain clarification |
Full cleanup — Die column (d4 vs named Aspect d6) on every spend, S53/S54 folded into per-character tables, canonical Aspect roster incl. Carl, d4/d6 tally, rulings history consolidated |
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== Tempered Soul Usage Log == | == Tempered Soul Usage Log == | ||
A running record of every time a member of [[Deez Nuts]] spends [[Tempered Soul]]. The feat was granted to the whole party when they signed [[A Compact of restoration and continuance|the Compact]] in [[Session 50 - Reforged in Hell, the Voyage Home (2026-06-14)|Session 50]], so the log begins there. | A running record of every time a member of [[Deez Nuts]] spends [[Tempered Soul]]. The feat was granted to the whole party when they signed [[A Compact of restoration and continuance|the Compact]] in [[Session 50 - Reforged in Hell, the Voyage Home (2026-06-14)|Session 50]], so the log begins there. ''(Cleaned up and restructured September 2026: session-block appendices folded into the per-character tables, and every spend now records '''which die was rolled'''.)'' | ||
'''Why we track this:''' Tempered Soul is meant to be narrated, not just rolled. Per the DM's rule (S50): each use, the player tells the table '''what they are feeling, what they are using it to empower, and how they envision that power coming about.''' | '''Why we track this:''' Tempered Soul is meant to be narrated, not just rolled. Per the DM's rule (S50): each use, the player tells the table '''what they are feeling, what they are using it to empower, and how they envision that power coming about.''' And because '''in-domain Aspect use is what grows the Aspect''' (d6 → d8 → d10 → d12 → d20), the log explicitly separates '''standard d4 spends''' from '''Aspect d6 spends'''. What you log is what your soul becomes. | ||
''' | |||
=== How to log a use === | === How to log a use === | ||
For every spend, add a row to that character's table below: | For every spend, add a row to that character's table below: | ||
* '''Session''' it happened in. | * '''Session''' it happened in. | ||
* '''Empowered''' — the exact roll or effect, with the math: ''base roll + die(result) = total''. (An attack, a save, a save DC raised, a check, a harvest roll.) | * '''Die''' — the '''standard d4''', or the character's named '''Aspect d6'''. If the table never said which, log it as ''unrecorded'' — do not guess. | ||
* '''Empowered''' — the exact roll or effect, with the math: ''base roll + die(result) = total''. (An attack, a save, a save DC raised, a check, a harvest roll, damage.) | |||
* '''Feeling & how they described it''' — the emotion, memory, or instinct, '''quoted verbatim'''. | * '''Feeling & how they described it''' — the emotion, memory, or instinct, '''quoted verbatim'''. | ||
* '''Outcome''' — did the soul die change the result? | * '''Outcome''' — did the soul die change the result? | ||
== The Aspects | === The Aspects (canonical, from the character sheets) === | ||
Full domain definitions are on [[Tempered Soul#The Aspects|Tempered Soul]]. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
! Character !! Aspect (d6) !! Domain, in short | |||
|- | |||
| [[Shade]] || '''Arcane Certainty''' || Unhesitating confidence in her own magic | |||
|- | |||
| [[Baelgrum]] || '''Protector's Debt''' || Shielding, aiding, healing, rescuing those in his care | |||
|- | |||
'''The | | [[Xanphina]] || '''Hellworn Fury''' || Rage sustained past all reason | ||
|- | |||
| [[Karma]] || '''Heartwood Resolve''' || Planting herself and refusing to bend | |||
|- | |||
| [[Keyleth]] || '''The Righteous Hunt''' || Prey judged deserving — including harvesting the deserving dead | |||
|- | |||
''' | | [[Gootcha]] || '''Raven's Remembrance''' || Deliberate memory; acts in the [[Raven Queen]]'s sight | ||
|- | |||
| [[Carl]] || '''Aye Aye, Captain''' || Afraid, and doing the thing regardless | |||
|} | |||
== Prelude — the return strikes (Session 50) == | == Prelude — the return strikes (Session 50) == | ||
Before the feat was formally granted, each soul returning from the Hells imbued '''one action''' with more power than they had ever managed — the DM had each player roll a d4, add it, and describe what they felt. These six simultaneous strikes killed [[Arauthator]] (89 damage, all at once). They are the feat's origin | Before the feat was formally granted, each soul returning from the Hells imbued '''one action''' with more power than they had ever managed — the DM had each player roll a d4, add it, and describe what they felt. These six simultaneous strikes killed [[Arauthator]] (89 damage, all at once). They are the feat's origin, logged here for the record and not counted in the tally. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
| Line 55: | Line 52: | ||
== Usage by character == | == Usage by character == | ||
''All S50–S51 spends predate the Aspects (crystallized during S52) and are standard d4 by definition.'' | |||
=== Baelgrum === | === Baelgrum — Aspect: Protector's Debt === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
! # !! Session !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ! # !! Session !! Die !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ||
|- | |||
| 1 || S50 || d4 || Attack — last charge of his Orb of Dragon's Breath (fire) vs. the [[Hydra]] || Revulsion → protectiveness: ''"I'm feeling revulsion seeing this monstrosity on my friggin' boat. And I am channeling this energy to protect my new friends."'' || +3 → hit (24); 23 damage, Hydra down to two heads | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || S50 || d4 || Save DC — raised the Wisdom save DC of his 4th-level Spirit Guardians vs. the Dragon Turtle to 19 || Confidence + protectiveness + awe: ''"I'm feeling… Confidence? … want to sort of protect these [good] people. I'm also feeling bewilderment at all the shit I've seen in… the one day I've been with this group."'' || Turtle rolled a natural 1, failed the DC 19; 19 radiant + speed halved | |||
|- | |||
| 3 || S51 || d4 || Wisdom save (DC 15) — volunteering to open [[Halvard]]'s bolted chest of 3,000 red coins || Duty to strangers: ''"…while I was not involved in this particular escapade to start this, I am feeling like it is necessary for us to try and help these people out."'' || 12 + d4(4) = 16 — the d4 was the whole margin; avoided the curse's failed-save rider | |||
|- | |||
| 4 || S51 || d4 || Spell attack — touching the hostile dockmaster [[Bargus]] with Remove Curse (had already hit; spent it anyway; second spend without a long rest between, allowed at the table) || Responsibility / setting things right: ''"…we were… in a roundabout way, the cause of this. So yeah, responsibility, trying to set things right."'' || 28 → 31; the curse "washes through him very powerfully" — Bargus uniquely kept his memories of the coins calling to him | |||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 5 || S52 || d4 ''(deliberate — out of domain)'' || '''Persuasion check''' (with advantage, from Keyleth's Insight) — getting the burned-out villagers to open up about the red dragon and the cultists. ''"The four banger, I think."'' || Personal grief: ''"…where I'm from, this exact thing happened. This is how I lost… chunk of my family… this is particularly personal."'' || Success. '''The roll that cracked the cult's method''' — a villager reveals the cultists are "working through their list… collecting more and more gold and treasure for their dragon god." | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 6 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the 8-day Baldur's Gate → [[Elturel]] march. '''14 + d4(1) = 15''' (−1 Survival, plus Keyleth's Guidance) || ''— none narrated:'' ''"Another one on the D4, sick."'' (sarcastic — a 1) || Travel resolved as uneventful | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 7 || S52 || '''Aspect d6''' — the first Aspect spend in campaign history || '''Save DC — 4th-level Command ("Halt")''' on Garrick, Vex and Keith at once. '''Base DC 17 + d6(4) = DC 21.''' Squarely in his protection domain, declared as such || Protecting the party: ''"I'm… attempting to slow some of these fools down from swinging on my friends."'' || Devastating — '''all three failed''' and lost their whole turn. The single most load-bearing spend of the ambush. | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 8 || S53 || d4 ''(deliberate — "this is not necessarily protecting")'' || '''Save DC — 4th-level Fireball''' vs. the undead horde; d4(1) → DC 18 '''for the dragonborn cultist only''' (the one-creature ruling was made on this spend) || Vengeance: ''"My guy's pissed… he wants to send these guys back to hell."'' || Dragonborn failed; zombies incinerated; the dragonborn left bloodied | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 9 || S53 || '''Aspect d6''' || '''Save DC — Command ("Halt")''' (1st level) on the second blue dragon wyrmling; '''d6(2) → DC 19''' || Protective calm: ''"…now I just want to protect Gootcha and Will."'' (Will down; Gootcha exposed on the wall.) || '''Failed''' — the wyrmling halted mid-air, could only land, and died to Gootcha. The spend that grounded the fight's last flier. | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 10 || S54 || '''Aspect d6''' || '''Save DC — 2nd-level Command ("Approach")''' on the [[Yuan-ti]] Anathema (advantage on saves vs. magic); '''d6(6) → DC 24''' — the maximum roll || Protection, plus civic pest-control: ''"Not only am I trying to protect my friends, I'm also trying to rid this town of this sneaky-headed asshole."'' || '''Unbeatable''' — DM: "He can't, he fails." The silenced, poisoned anathema was dragged through the wolf pack and died before arriving. | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 11 || S54 || d4 || '''Harvest check''' — the Anathema; '''14 + d4(3) + Guidance(3) = 20''', exactly the Very Rare DC || Providing for the party: ''"Want to build up some good stuff to protect the homies."'' || His best smithing harvest yet — the Anathema Scale Coat | ||
|} | |} | ||
=== Keyleth === | === Keyleth — Aspect: The Righteous Hunt === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
! # !! Session !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ! # !! Session !! Die !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ||
|- | |||
| 1 || S50 || d4 || Attack — longbow reaction shot (Captain Larusta's command) vs. the [[Hydra]] || Fear/anger: ''"I can't think of an inspiration right now. Other than fear, I'm very upset about the dead people up front, angry, as usual…"'' || Hit; 12 damage + 4 Hunter's Mark | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || S50 || d4 || Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass (d4 = 1) || Vengeful & righteous: ''"…I find myself relishing it more than I probably would have in the past. Feeling vengeful and righteous."'' || Result deferred | |||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 3 || S51 || d4 || Wisdom save — retconned onto the psychic pulse from the first coin-melt || Ancestral guidance: ''"Channel the wisdom of my elders… Feeling pretty confident in that role."'' || Shielded her mind from the infernal pulse | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 4 || S52 || d4 ''(pre-crystallization; die not read out)'' || '''Survival check''' — day 3 of the Luskan → Neverwinter march || Teenage angst: ''"…my survival has not been as easy every day… a lot of angst, teenage angst almost."'' || Day passed uneventfully | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 5 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the night's camp. '''25 + d4(1) = 26''' — the highest of the party || Anger for the villagers: ''"…it's more of anger and frustration at what the villagers went through."'' || Carried the group to an excellent night's rest | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 6 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. '''18 + d4(2) = 20''' || ''— none narrated'' || Travel uneventful | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 7 || S52 || d4 || '''Damage''' — Worm Reaver hit on Vex, ''"Whopping two more"'' (the spend that later produced the damage-is-legal ruling) || Indignant fury: ''"…how dare he get all up in my business and lay hand upon me."'' || +2 damage; Vex left "still standing, but barely" | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 8 || S53 || '''Aspect d6''' || '''Damage — the killing of the first blue dragon wyrmling''', stacked on her super-inspiration auto-crit. In-domain: "''it's your hunter's [aspect], basically''" — her prey, found and struck || Declared through action rather than narration — the killing shot itself || '''Killed the wyrmling''' — ensnared out of the sky, pixies desecrating the corpse | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 9 || S54 || '''Aspect d6''' || '''Harvest check''' — the Anathema; '''14 + d6(3) + Guidance(3) = 20''', exactly the Very Rare DC. The DM allowed the d6 by name: '''"harvesting the deserving dead"''' is Righteous Hunt work || ''— none narrated;'' she self-targeted Guidance || Recovered the Heat-Pit Clusters; the d6 was part of the exact margin | ||
|} | |} | ||
=== Shade === | === Shade — Aspect: Arcane Certainty === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
! # !! Session !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ! # !! Session !! Die !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ||
|- | |||
| 1 || S50 || d4 || Attack — Chromatic Orb (fire) vs. the [[Hydra]] || Pure confidence: ''"what I'm feeling is just, like, pure confidence."'' || Hit (32); 40 fire — '''killed the Hydra''' | |||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 2 || S50 || d4 || Attack — 3rd-level Chromatic Orb (acid) vs. the Dragon Turtle, "just in case I miss" || Bloodlust + confidence + anger: ''"…all my new power has been wonderful. And I'm really mad, because I also got some of his steam."'' || Hit (24); 30 acid | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 3 || S51 || d4 || Wisdom save (DC 20) — the infernal pulse of 2,400 coins melting in the [[Host Tower of the Arcane|Host Tower]] vault || Confidence, and pyromania: ''"I too am feeling confident that we can do this. And I like fire."'' || Took 2 psychic (halved) | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 4 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the night's camp. '''10 + d4(1) = 11''' || Restless anticipation: ''"I'm feeling… anxious for a fight, but, like, in a good way."'' || A wasted spend — she slept badly anyway | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 5 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. '''4 + d4(3) = 7''' || Weariness: ''"Ambitious but tired."'' || Travel still resolved as an easy trip | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 6 || S52 || ''unrecorded (rolled 3 — either die)'' || '''Wisdom save (DC 14)''' vs. Rook's shadow-arrow — failure = '''blinded'''. '''13 + (3) = 16''' — the 13 would have failed by one || ''— none narrated by the player;'' the DM supplied an in-domain image: ''"you use your arcane power and push them aside."'' (Keyleth: ''"Be tempered."'') || '''The die was the entire margin.''' She immediately Hellish Rebuked Rook in return | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 7 || S54 || '''Aspect d6''' ''(rolled a 5 — must be the d6)'' || '''Harvest check''' — the Anathema; '''25 + d6(5) = 30''', the table's best, ceiling DC + 10 || Determination: ''"I'm feeling determined to get this poison."'' || Signature Venom Glands ×2 and the deepest haul of the carcass ''(domain fit worth a DM look — butchery isn't obviously Arcane Certainty, but the d6 was rolled and allowed)'' | ||
|} | |} | ||
=== Gootcha === | === Gootcha — Aspect: Raven's Remembrance === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
! # !! Session !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ! # !! Session !! Die !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ||
|- | |||
| 1 || S50 || d4 || Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) || Longing for rest: ''"I need rest, and I'm looking forward to sweet dreams."'' || Not individually resolved on-screen | |||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 2 || S50 || d4 || Hex — d4 (rolled 1) applied to the Dragon Turtle's Dexterity saves while hexed (DM ruling: disadvantage −1) || Memory of the slain dragon: ''"As I'm hexing him, I am thinking of a memory of the dragon… that we just killed."'' || The turtle failed every Dexterity save for the rest of the fight | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 3 || S51 || d4 || Sleight of Hand — mid-attempt reroll pickpocketing a Kurth bridge guard (with Baelgrum's Guidance) || Her old self: ''"I'm feeling my past and how good I used to be at this. Feeling like I got this."'' || Success — 20 gold (18 red — the discovery that cracked the whole mystery) plus a ring | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 4 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — day 3 of the Luskan → Neverwinter march || Frustration: ''"…every other day was so easy. Why is today so hard?"'' || Day passed uneventfully | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 5 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. '''18 + d4(2) = 20''' || ''— none narrated'' || Travel uneventful | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 6 || S52 || d4 → '''Aspect d6''' ''(retroactive upgrade — the crystallizing spend)'' || '''Attack roll''' — sneak-attack shortbow at Vex; '''14 (miss) + d4(3) = 17''', then the DM ruled the spend itself tipped her into her Aspect: ''"I'm gonna treat it like a D6… bump up that extra 2"'' → '''19''' || Remembering who she is: ''"I am… remembering what a badass I am."'' || '''Miss into hit — and revealed the ambush's hidden piece''': the arrow struck the invisible '''Rook''', popping her invisibility | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 7 || S54 || ''unrecorded (rolled 4 — either die)'' || '''Harvest check''' — the Anathema; '''23 + (4) = 27''', second-best of the table (Thieves' → Jeweler's fine work) || ''— none narrated on-mic'' || Both pairs of Gemlike Serpent Eyes | ||
|} | |} | ||
=== Xanphina === | === Xanphina — Aspect: Hellworn Fury === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
! # !! Session !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ! # !! Session !! Die !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ||
|- | |||
| 1 || S50 || d4 || Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) || ''— none narrated:'' ''"I'm gonna use mine, too."'' || Not individually resolved | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || S50 || d4 || Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass (d4 = 2) || Rage: ''"I'm viewing my harvesting with rage, because I'm still raging."'' || 12 total (result deferred) | |||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 3 || S51 || d4 || Strength (Athletics) — tearing the dockmaster's bolted-down coin box off his desk (had already passed with 21; spent it anyway) || Accomplishment: ''"…we are making progress in helping to right this wrong that we have done to this town."'' || The bolts sheared and flew across the room | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 4 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — day 3 of the Luskan → Neverwinter march || Calm: ''"I'm feeling, um… Zen."'' || Day passed uneventfully | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 5 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. '''d4(3)''' || ''— none narrated'' || Travel uneventful | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 6 || S52 || d4 || '''Save DC — Restraining Ward DC 15 → 17''' (d4 = 2) on the caster winding up a '''Fireball''' (available "because you are not yet raging") || Anger: ''"I am feeling angry that he is trying to fireball me."'' || '''He rolled exactly 15''' — pass vs. 15, fail vs. 17. Restrained mid-cast; '''the Fireball never went off''' | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 7 || S53 || '''Aspect d6''' || '''Wisdom save (DC 15)''' vs. the necromancer's Bestow Curse (fail = lose her action); rolled low, added the d6 (in-domain — refusing to drop under a force pressing on her) || ''— none narrated;'' a grasp at freedom (''"Can I use my… whatever, Tempered Soul."'') || '''Failed anyway''' — "didn't get me there." Lost her action; cast Shield of Faith as a bonus action instead | ||
|- | |- | ||
| | | 8 || S54 || ''unrecorded (rolled 4 — either die)'' || '''Harvest check''' — the Anathema; '''17 + (4) = 21''' || Curiosity: ''"I'm just really curious about what we're going to get out of this weird snake guy."'' || Cleared the Very Rare DC — the Mageward Ichor ''(curiosity is not Hellworn Fury; if the die mattered, this was likely the d4)'' | ||
|} | |} | ||
=== Karma === | === Karma — Aspect: Heartwood Resolve === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | ||
! # !! Session !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ! # !! Session !! Die !! Empowered !! Feeling & how described (quote) !! Outcome | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 1 || | | 1 || S50 || d4 || Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) || ''— none narrated:'' ''"Might as well use mine."'' || Not individually resolved | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 2 || | | 2 || S50 || d4 || Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass (herbalism kit) || Curiosity: ''"Pure curiosity and interest. I want to know what we're going to be able to make from this."'' || 26 ("close") | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 3 || | | 3 || S51 || d4 || Wisdom save (DC 20) — the infernal pulse of the vault melt she herself triggered || Hardened resolve: ''"…just hardened resolve and confidence flow through me."'' || Took 2 psychic (halved) | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 4 || S52 | | 4 || S52 || d4 || '''Survival check''' — the night's camp. '''9 + d4(4) = 13''' — the best possible roll on the die || Confidence: ''"I'm feeling confident I'm gonna get an excellent night's sleep."'' || Lifted a below-average roll to a solid one | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 5 || S52 ( | | 5 || S52 || d4 ''(assumed — die rolled a 1)'' || '''Save DC — Cone of Cold DC 16 → 17''' on four enemies at once ''(predates the S53 one-creature ruling)'' || Ferocious confidence: ''"I'm just feeling so confident, I'm gonna fuck these guys up."'' || '''The single point mattered''' — a 16 that would have saved now failed. "All of them are taking full damage." 36 each | ||
|- | |||
| 6 || S54 || '''Aspect d6''' ''(rolled a 5 — must be the d6)'' || '''Harvest check''' — the Anathema; '''12 + d6(5) = 17''' || Determination: ''"I am determined that I'm going to get something good out of here."'' || Missed Very Rare by three; cleared Rare — the Antivenin Organ ''(domain fit worth a DM look: her finalized domain is stand-firm resolve, not harvest-craft — though "determined to get something good" is at least on-theme)'' | |||
|} | |} | ||
=== Carl — Aspect: Aye Aye, Captain === | |||
[[Carl]] carries Tempered Soul: Aspects too — reforged alongside the company. '''No spends recorded yet.''' When he spends, log it here: the d6 fires only when he is visibly afraid and follows through anyway — and never, by party treaty, on his bow. | |||
== Declined or deferred uses == | == Declined or deferred uses == | ||
| Line 164: | Line 187: | ||
* '''Gootcha''' (S50, Ice Spider Queen): a hopeless roll — ''"even 4 points isn't gonna get me anywhere."'' | * '''Gootcha''' (S50, Ice Spider Queen): a hopeless roll — ''"even 4 points isn't gonna get me anywhere."'' | ||
* '''Keyleth''' (S50, Dragon Turtle): offered mid-fight, chose the Hellhound Whistle's Erupting Earth instead and saved the surge for the harvest. | * '''Keyleth''' (S50, Dragon Turtle): offered mid-fight, chose the Hellhound Whistle's Erupting Earth instead and saved the surge for the harvest. | ||
* '''Gootcha''' (S51, stables heist): offered a retcon | * '''Gootcha''' (S51, stables heist): offered a retcon — ''"Actually, you know what, I'm gonna save it, because we might need to stealth our way into another place."'' (First deliberate hoarding of the surge.) | ||
* '''Baelgrum''' (S51, the vault): passed the DC 20 clean — ''"I guess it doesn't matter. I was gonna say Tempered Soul."'' | * '''Baelgrum''' (S51, the vault): passed the DC 20 clean — ''"I guess it doesn't matter. I was gonna say Tempered Soul."'' | ||
* '''Keyleth''' (S52, day-2 survival): | * '''Keyleth''' (S52, day-2 survival): invited by name to spend toward her Aspect, and let it pass (a 5 on the die, but +11 Survival). | ||
* '''Keyleth''' (S52, the villagers): an Insight | * '''Keyleth''' (S52, the villagers): an Insight of 11 went un-tempered — she used the mediocre result to pick the most talkative villager and handed the moment to Baelgrum. | ||
* '''Baelgrum | * '''Baelgrum, Gootcha, Xanphina''' (S52, night camp): sat out the night-camp survival check; Baelgrum ate a 7 without flinching, having just confirmed camping resets the feat. | ||
* '''Karma''' (S52, the Elturel march): the only member | * '''Karma''' (S52, the Elturel march): the only member not to spend on that check. Her 16 stood on its own. | ||
* '''Keyleth''' (S53, the wyrmling): held her die when told "it's probably not enough to take them out" — the model hoarding play — then spent the moment the crit made it lethal (spend #8). | |||
* '''Keyleth''' (S54, the anathema's Entangle): offered the die on her Strength save — "you would need to get, like, a 5 out of it" — and held: ''"I'll wait, I'll see what I can do next time. Or if you guys kill it."'' Freed herself next turn with Conjure Animals advantage plus Bless. | |||
* '''Karma''' (S54): held her spend in combat and banked it for the harvest. | |||
== Tally == | == Tally == | ||
Feat uses only (the S50 return strikes are logged in the Prelude | Feat uses only (the S50 return strikes are logged in the Prelude and not counted). '''Aspect spends are the growth metric.''' | ||
{| class="wikitable sortable" | {| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
! Character !! | ! Character !! Aspect !! d4 spends !! '''Aspect d6 spends''' !! Die unrecorded !! Total !! Sessions | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Baelgrum]] || Protector's Debt || 8 || '''3''' (S52 Command ×1, S53 Command ×1, S54 Command ×1) || 0 || 11 || S50–S54 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Keyleth]] || The Righteous Hunt || 7 || '''2''' (S53 wyrmling kill, S54 harvest) || 0 || 9 || S50–S54 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Shade]] || Arcane Certainty || 5 || '''1''' (S54 harvest — rolled a 5) || 1 (S52 blindness save) || 7 || S50–S54 | ||
''' | |||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Gootcha]] || Raven's Remembrance || 5 || '''1''' (S52 crystallizing attack — retroactive d6) || 1 (S54 harvest) || 7 || S50–S54 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Xanphina]] || Hellworn Fury || 6 || '''1''' (S53 Bestow Curse save) || 1 (S54 harvest) || 8 || S50–S54 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Karma]] || Heartwood Resolve || 5 || '''1''' (S54 harvest — rolled a 5) || 0 || 6 || S50–S54 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[ | | [[Carl]] || Aye Aye, Captain || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || — | ||
| | |||
|- | |- | ||
! Total !! — !! 36 !! 9 !! 3 !! 48 !! — | |||
|} | |} | ||
''' | '''Reading the tally:''' [[Baelgrum]] is the clear Aspect specialist — all three of his d6 spends were Command save-DCs in his protection domain, and all three were outcome-deciding. Every other character has exactly one confirmed Aspect spend. Three spends never had their die named at the table (Shade's S52 blindness save, and Gootcha's and Xanphina's S54 harvests — each rolled a 4 or less, so either die is possible); '''going forward, name the die when you spend'''. | ||
'''Domain-fit flags for the DM:''' the S54 harvest d6s of [[Shade]] (Arcane Certainty) and [[Karma]] (Heartwood Resolve) sit outside their sheets' domains as written — both rolled 5s, so the d6 was definitely used and allowed at the table. [[Keyleth]]'s harvest d6 is clean (her domain names "harvesting the deserving dead" explicitly). | |||
''' | == Rulings history == | ||
* '''S50:''' the feat granted — d4 on any d20 test, once per long rest, narration required. | |||
* '''S52 — the Aspects awaken:''' repeated in-domain use crystallized an Aspect for all six (Shade and Baelgrum by vision on the first night; Gootcha mid-combat, the DM retroactively upgrading her die). Rulings: any d20 roll qualifies; retroactive application allowed; may raise an imposed save DC; may be spent after you know what you face; camping overnight resets the feat. The table also described a '''charge pool''' (base d4 + Aspect d6 = 10 charges at prof +3; d4 costs 4, d6 costs 6; half back on a short rest; 7 + 5 boxes at level 9 per S53) — '''the character sheets now implement the simpler model''': standard d4 ×1/long rest, Aspect d6 ×3/long rest. | |||
* '''S53:''' a save-DC boost applies to '''one creature only''' of a multi-target spell. Pool scaling with proficiency confirmed (under the pool model). | |||
* '''2026-08-09 errata:''' '''damage is a legal target''' for the die — "a less useful usage so I don't see a problem with it" (retroactively blessing Keyleth's S52 #7 and S53 #8). | |||
* '''S54:''' harvest checks are legal targets; with a long rest imminent, the whole party may spend on one carcass; Keyleth's d6 explicitly covers "harvesting the deserving dead." | |||
* '''September 2026 cleanup:''' canonical Aspect names and domains pulled from the character sheets (including [[Carl]]'s); the log now records the die on every spend. | |||
[[Category:Campaign]] [[Category:Reference]] | [[Category:Campaign]] [[Category:Reference]] | ||
Revision as of 15:32, 3 September 2026
Tempered Soul Usage Log
A running record of every time a member of Deez Nuts spends Tempered Soul. The feat was granted to the whole party when they signed the Compact in Session 50, so the log begins there. (Cleaned up and restructured September 2026: session-block appendices folded into the per-character tables, and every spend now records which die was rolled.)
Why we track this: Tempered Soul is meant to be narrated, not just rolled. Per the DM's rule (S50): each use, the player tells the table what they are feeling, what they are using it to empower, and how they envision that power coming about. And because in-domain Aspect use is what grows the Aspect (d6 → d8 → d10 → d12 → d20), the log explicitly separates standard d4 spends from Aspect d6 spends. What you log is what your soul becomes.
How to log a use
For every spend, add a row to that character's table below:
- Session it happened in.
- Die — the standard d4, or the character's named Aspect d6. If the table never said which, log it as unrecorded — do not guess.
- Empowered — the exact roll or effect, with the math: base roll + die(result) = total. (An attack, a save, a save DC raised, a check, a harvest roll, damage.)
- Feeling & how they described it — the emotion, memory, or instinct, quoted verbatim.
- Outcome — did the soul die change the result?
The Aspects (canonical, from the character sheets)
Full domain definitions are on Tempered Soul.
| Character | Aspect (d6) | Domain, in short |
|---|---|---|
| Shade | Arcane Certainty | Unhesitating confidence in her own magic |
| Baelgrum | Protector's Debt | Shielding, aiding, healing, rescuing those in his care |
| Xanphina | Hellworn Fury | Rage sustained past all reason |
| Karma | Heartwood Resolve | Planting herself and refusing to bend |
| Keyleth | The Righteous Hunt | Prey judged deserving — including harvesting the deserving dead |
| Gootcha | Raven's Remembrance | Deliberate memory; acts in the Raven Queen's sight |
| Carl | Aye Aye, Captain | Afraid, and doing the thing regardless |
Prelude — the return strikes (Session 50)
Before the feat was formally granted, each soul returning from the Hells imbued one action with more power than they had ever managed — the DM had each player roll a d4, add it, and describe what they felt. These six simultaneous strikes killed Arauthator (89 damage, all at once). They are the feat's origin, logged here for the record and not counted in the tally.
| Character | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyleth | Longbow shot (the first strike; Hunter's Mark re-cast) — 16 + d4(2) = 18 | Infernal rage: "Well, some infernal rage I felt, I believe. Anger. And, pixies were all fired up. They're more swarm and bug-like. And so I channeled a lot of that, the rage into it, and drew back my bow, and… let loose." | Hit — and time itself slowed after her arrow, letting the others strike as one |
| Xanphina | Returning Trident throw — 17 + d4 | Rage at the whole ordeal: "Obviously, rage. Rage at… how long and hard I already have been fighting him. And having gone literally to hell and back. And still being here fighting him… I felt it as I threw my trident, and I just put all of it into the throw." | Hit |
| Baelgrum | Guiding Bolt (his first act with the party — "Dragonfight! I think I like you people already.") | Cold rage / revenge: "Anger. A need for revenge… [a dragon] actually burned my brother to death in a grain store as he was trying to protect our village. So… the past 3 years has been sort of a revenge tour on dragons and cultists. It's cold rage." | Hit |
| Karma | Blight — d4(1) added to the Constitution save DC (first-ever save-DC use) | Total conviction: "Pure confidence. I have never felt so confident that this will strike true in my entire life." | Dragon failed; Blight burned deep |
| Shade | Chromatic Orb (4th level) — 24 to hit + d4 | Power: "I'm feeling super fucking smart. And… powerful. And so I'm just, like, putting all my power into it." | Hit |
| Gootcha | Silence — 20-ft sphere over the dragon, d4 rolled into the effect | The Raven Queen: "I am feeling annoyed. And I am also feeling the Raven Queen through me. Tell[ing] me to silence him. And end him." | The kill landed in eerie, total silence |
Usage by character
All S50–S51 spends predate the Aspects (crystallized during S52) and are standard d4 by definition.
Baelgrum — Aspect: Protector's Debt
| # | Session | Die | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S50 | d4 | Attack — last charge of his Orb of Dragon's Breath (fire) vs. the Hydra | Revulsion → protectiveness: "I'm feeling revulsion seeing this monstrosity on my friggin' boat. And I am channeling this energy to protect my new friends." | +3 → hit (24); 23 damage, Hydra down to two heads |
| 2 | S50 | d4 | Save DC — raised the Wisdom save DC of his 4th-level Spirit Guardians vs. the Dragon Turtle to 19 | Confidence + protectiveness + awe: "I'm feeling… Confidence? … want to sort of protect these [good] people. I'm also feeling bewilderment at all the shit I've seen in… the one day I've been with this group." | Turtle rolled a natural 1, failed the DC 19; 19 radiant + speed halved |
| 3 | S51 | d4 | Wisdom save (DC 15) — volunteering to open Halvard's bolted chest of 3,000 red coins | Duty to strangers: "…while I was not involved in this particular escapade to start this, I am feeling like it is necessary for us to try and help these people out." | 12 + d4(4) = 16 — the d4 was the whole margin; avoided the curse's failed-save rider |
| 4 | S51 | d4 | Spell attack — touching the hostile dockmaster Bargus with Remove Curse (had already hit; spent it anyway; second spend without a long rest between, allowed at the table) | Responsibility / setting things right: "…we were… in a roundabout way, the cause of this. So yeah, responsibility, trying to set things right." | 28 → 31; the curse "washes through him very powerfully" — Bargus uniquely kept his memories of the coins calling to him |
| 5 | S52 | d4 (deliberate — out of domain) | Persuasion check (with advantage, from Keyleth's Insight) — getting the burned-out villagers to open up about the red dragon and the cultists. "The four banger, I think." | Personal grief: "…where I'm from, this exact thing happened. This is how I lost… chunk of my family… this is particularly personal." | Success. The roll that cracked the cult's method — a villager reveals the cultists are "working through their list… collecting more and more gold and treasure for their dragon god." |
| 6 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the 8-day Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. 14 + d4(1) = 15 (−1 Survival, plus Keyleth's Guidance) | — none narrated: "Another one on the D4, sick." (sarcastic — a 1) | Travel resolved as uneventful |
| 7 | S52 | Aspect d6 — the first Aspect spend in campaign history | Save DC — 4th-level Command ("Halt") on Garrick, Vex and Keith at once. Base DC 17 + d6(4) = DC 21. Squarely in his protection domain, declared as such | Protecting the party: "I'm… attempting to slow some of these fools down from swinging on my friends." | Devastating — all three failed and lost their whole turn. The single most load-bearing spend of the ambush. |
| 8 | S53 | d4 (deliberate — "this is not necessarily protecting") | Save DC — 4th-level Fireball vs. the undead horde; d4(1) → DC 18 for the dragonborn cultist only (the one-creature ruling was made on this spend) | Vengeance: "My guy's pissed… he wants to send these guys back to hell." | Dragonborn failed; zombies incinerated; the dragonborn left bloodied |
| 9 | S53 | Aspect d6 | Save DC — Command ("Halt") (1st level) on the second blue dragon wyrmling; d6(2) → DC 19 | Protective calm: "…now I just want to protect Gootcha and Will." (Will down; Gootcha exposed on the wall.) | Failed — the wyrmling halted mid-air, could only land, and died to Gootcha. The spend that grounded the fight's last flier. |
| 10 | S54 | Aspect d6 | Save DC — 2nd-level Command ("Approach") on the Yuan-ti Anathema (advantage on saves vs. magic); d6(6) → DC 24 — the maximum roll | Protection, plus civic pest-control: "Not only am I trying to protect my friends, I'm also trying to rid this town of this sneaky-headed asshole." | Unbeatable — DM: "He can't, he fails." The silenced, poisoned anathema was dragged through the wolf pack and died before arriving. |
| 11 | S54 | d4 | Harvest check — the Anathema; 14 + d4(3) + Guidance(3) = 20, exactly the Very Rare DC | Providing for the party: "Want to build up some good stuff to protect the homies." | His best smithing harvest yet — the Anathema Scale Coat |
Keyleth — Aspect: The Righteous Hunt
| # | Session | Die | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S50 | d4 | Attack — longbow reaction shot (Captain Larusta's command) vs. the Hydra | Fear/anger: "I can't think of an inspiration right now. Other than fear, I'm very upset about the dead people up front, angry, as usual…" | Hit; 12 damage + 4 Hunter's Mark |
| 2 | S50 | d4 | Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass (d4 = 1) | Vengeful & righteous: "…I find myself relishing it more than I probably would have in the past. Feeling vengeful and righteous." | Result deferred |
| 3 | S51 | d4 | Wisdom save — retconned onto the psychic pulse from the first coin-melt | Ancestral guidance: "Channel the wisdom of my elders… Feeling pretty confident in that role." | Shielded her mind from the infernal pulse |
| 4 | S52 | d4 (pre-crystallization; die not read out) | Survival check — day 3 of the Luskan → Neverwinter march | Teenage angst: "…my survival has not been as easy every day… a lot of angst, teenage angst almost." | Day passed uneventfully |
| 5 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the night's camp. 25 + d4(1) = 26 — the highest of the party | Anger for the villagers: "…it's more of anger and frustration at what the villagers went through." | Carried the group to an excellent night's rest |
| 6 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. 18 + d4(2) = 20 | — none narrated | Travel uneventful |
| 7 | S52 | d4 | Damage — Worm Reaver hit on Vex, "Whopping two more" (the spend that later produced the damage-is-legal ruling) | Indignant fury: "…how dare he get all up in my business and lay hand upon me." | +2 damage; Vex left "still standing, but barely" |
| 8 | S53 | Aspect d6 | Damage — the killing of the first blue dragon wyrmling, stacked on her super-inspiration auto-crit. In-domain: "it's your hunter's [aspect], basically" — her prey, found and struck | Declared through action rather than narration — the killing shot itself | Killed the wyrmling — ensnared out of the sky, pixies desecrating the corpse |
| 9 | S54 | Aspect d6 | Harvest check — the Anathema; 14 + d6(3) + Guidance(3) = 20, exactly the Very Rare DC. The DM allowed the d6 by name: "harvesting the deserving dead" is Righteous Hunt work | — none narrated; she self-targeted Guidance | Recovered the Heat-Pit Clusters; the d6 was part of the exact margin |
Shade — Aspect: Arcane Certainty
| # | Session | Die | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S50 | d4 | Attack — Chromatic Orb (fire) vs. the Hydra | Pure confidence: "what I'm feeling is just, like, pure confidence." | Hit (32); 40 fire — killed the Hydra |
| 2 | S50 | d4 | Attack — 3rd-level Chromatic Orb (acid) vs. the Dragon Turtle, "just in case I miss" | Bloodlust + confidence + anger: "…all my new power has been wonderful. And I'm really mad, because I also got some of his steam." | Hit (24); 30 acid |
| 3 | S51 | d4 | Wisdom save (DC 20) — the infernal pulse of 2,400 coins melting in the Host Tower vault | Confidence, and pyromania: "I too am feeling confident that we can do this. And I like fire." | Took 2 psychic (halved) |
| 4 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the night's camp. 10 + d4(1) = 11 | Restless anticipation: "I'm feeling… anxious for a fight, but, like, in a good way." | A wasted spend — she slept badly anyway |
| 5 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. 4 + d4(3) = 7 | Weariness: "Ambitious but tired." | Travel still resolved as an easy trip |
| 6 | S52 | unrecorded (rolled 3 — either die) | Wisdom save (DC 14) vs. Rook's shadow-arrow — failure = blinded. 13 + (3) = 16 — the 13 would have failed by one | — none narrated by the player; the DM supplied an in-domain image: "you use your arcane power and push them aside." (Keyleth: "Be tempered.") | The die was the entire margin. She immediately Hellish Rebuked Rook in return |
| 7 | S54 | Aspect d6 (rolled a 5 — must be the d6) | Harvest check — the Anathema; 25 + d6(5) = 30, the table's best, ceiling DC + 10 | Determination: "I'm feeling determined to get this poison." | Signature Venom Glands ×2 and the deepest haul of the carcass (domain fit worth a DM look — butchery isn't obviously Arcane Certainty, but the d6 was rolled and allowed) |
Gootcha — Aspect: Raven's Remembrance
| # | Session | Die | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S50 | d4 | Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) | Longing for rest: "I need rest, and I'm looking forward to sweet dreams." | Not individually resolved on-screen |
| 2 | S50 | d4 | Hex — d4 (rolled 1) applied to the Dragon Turtle's Dexterity saves while hexed (DM ruling: disadvantage −1) | Memory of the slain dragon: "As I'm hexing him, I am thinking of a memory of the dragon… that we just killed." | The turtle failed every Dexterity save for the rest of the fight |
| 3 | S51 | d4 | Sleight of Hand — mid-attempt reroll pickpocketing a Kurth bridge guard (with Baelgrum's Guidance) | Her old self: "I'm feeling my past and how good I used to be at this. Feeling like I got this." | Success — 20 gold (18 red — the discovery that cracked the whole mystery) plus a ring |
| 4 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — day 3 of the Luskan → Neverwinter march | Frustration: "…every other day was so easy. Why is today so hard?" | Day passed uneventfully |
| 5 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. 18 + d4(2) = 20 | — none narrated | Travel uneventful |
| 6 | S52 | d4 → Aspect d6 (retroactive upgrade — the crystallizing spend) | Attack roll — sneak-attack shortbow at Vex; 14 (miss) + d4(3) = 17, then the DM ruled the spend itself tipped her into her Aspect: "I'm gonna treat it like a D6… bump up that extra 2" → 19 | Remembering who she is: "I am… remembering what a badass I am." | Miss into hit — and revealed the ambush's hidden piece: the arrow struck the invisible Rook, popping her invisibility |
| 7 | S54 | unrecorded (rolled 4 — either die) | Harvest check — the Anathema; 23 + (4) = 27, second-best of the table (Thieves' → Jeweler's fine work) | — none narrated on-mic | Both pairs of Gemlike Serpent Eyes |
Xanphina — Aspect: Hellworn Fury
| # | Session | Die | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S50 | d4 | Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) | — none narrated: "I'm gonna use mine, too." | Not individually resolved |
| 2 | S50 | d4 | Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass (d4 = 2) | Rage: "I'm viewing my harvesting with rage, because I'm still raging." | 12 total (result deferred) |
| 3 | S51 | d4 | Strength (Athletics) — tearing the dockmaster's bolted-down coin box off his desk (had already passed with 21; spent it anyway) | Accomplishment: "…we are making progress in helping to right this wrong that we have done to this town." | The bolts sheared and flew across the room |
| 4 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — day 3 of the Luskan → Neverwinter march | Calm: "I'm feeling, um… Zen." | Day passed uneventfully |
| 5 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the Baldur's Gate → Elturel march. d4(3) | — none narrated | Travel uneventful |
| 6 | S52 | d4 | Save DC — Restraining Ward DC 15 → 17 (d4 = 2) on the caster winding up a Fireball (available "because you are not yet raging") | Anger: "I am feeling angry that he is trying to fireball me." | He rolled exactly 15 — pass vs. 15, fail vs. 17. Restrained mid-cast; the Fireball never went off |
| 7 | S53 | Aspect d6 | Wisdom save (DC 15) vs. the necromancer's Bestow Curse (fail = lose her action); rolled low, added the d6 (in-domain — refusing to drop under a force pressing on her) | — none narrated; a grasp at freedom ("Can I use my… whatever, Tempered Soul.") | Failed anyway — "didn't get me there." Lost her action; cast Shield of Faith as a bonus action instead |
| 8 | S54 | unrecorded (rolled 4 — either die) | Harvest check — the Anathema; 17 + (4) = 21 | Curiosity: "I'm just really curious about what we're going to get out of this weird snake guy." | Cleared the Very Rare DC — the Mageward Ichor (curiosity is not Hellworn Fury; if the die mattered, this was likely the d4) |
Karma — Aspect: Heartwood Resolve
| # | Session | Die | Empowered | Feeling & how described (quote) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S50 | d4 | Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) | — none narrated: "Might as well use mine." | Not individually resolved |
| 2 | S50 | d4 | Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass (herbalism kit) | Curiosity: "Pure curiosity and interest. I want to know what we're going to be able to make from this." | 26 ("close") |
| 3 | S51 | d4 | Wisdom save (DC 20) — the infernal pulse of the vault melt she herself triggered | Hardened resolve: "…just hardened resolve and confidence flow through me." | Took 2 psychic (halved) |
| 4 | S52 | d4 | Survival check — the night's camp. 9 + d4(4) = 13 — the best possible roll on the die | Confidence: "I'm feeling confident I'm gonna get an excellent night's sleep." | Lifted a below-average roll to a solid one |
| 5 | S52 | d4 (assumed — die rolled a 1) | Save DC — Cone of Cold DC 16 → 17 on four enemies at once (predates the S53 one-creature ruling) | Ferocious confidence: "I'm just feeling so confident, I'm gonna fuck these guys up." | The single point mattered — a 16 that would have saved now failed. "All of them are taking full damage." 36 each |
| 6 | S54 | Aspect d6 (rolled a 5 — must be the d6) | Harvest check — the Anathema; 12 + d6(5) = 17 | Determination: "I am determined that I'm going to get something good out of here." | Missed Very Rare by three; cleared Rare — the Antivenin Organ (domain fit worth a DM look: her finalized domain is stand-firm resolve, not harvest-craft — though "determined to get something good" is at least on-theme) |
Carl — Aspect: Aye Aye, Captain
Carl carries Tempered Soul: Aspects too — reforged alongside the company. No spends recorded yet. When he spends, log it here: the d6 fires only when he is visibly afraid and follows through anyway — and never, by party treaty, on his bow.
Declined or deferred uses
Also part of the record — moments a character weighed the surge and held it:
- Gootcha (S50, Ice Spider Queen): a hopeless roll — "even 4 points isn't gonna get me anywhere."
- Keyleth (S50, Dragon Turtle): offered mid-fight, chose the Hellhound Whistle's Erupting Earth instead and saved the surge for the harvest.
- Gootcha (S51, stables heist): offered a retcon — "Actually, you know what, I'm gonna save it, because we might need to stealth our way into another place." (First deliberate hoarding of the surge.)
- Baelgrum (S51, the vault): passed the DC 20 clean — "I guess it doesn't matter. I was gonna say Tempered Soul."
- Keyleth (S52, day-2 survival): invited by name to spend toward her Aspect, and let it pass (a 5 on the die, but +11 Survival).
- Keyleth (S52, the villagers): an Insight of 11 went un-tempered — she used the mediocre result to pick the most talkative villager and handed the moment to Baelgrum.
- Baelgrum, Gootcha, Xanphina (S52, night camp): sat out the night-camp survival check; Baelgrum ate a 7 without flinching, having just confirmed camping resets the feat.
- Karma (S52, the Elturel march): the only member not to spend on that check. Her 16 stood on its own.
- Keyleth (S53, the wyrmling): held her die when told "it's probably not enough to take them out" — the model hoarding play — then spent the moment the crit made it lethal (spend #8).
- Keyleth (S54, the anathema's Entangle): offered the die on her Strength save — "you would need to get, like, a 5 out of it" — and held: "I'll wait, I'll see what I can do next time. Or if you guys kill it." Freed herself next turn with Conjure Animals advantage plus Bless.
- Karma (S54): held her spend in combat and banked it for the harvest.
Tally
Feat uses only (the S50 return strikes are logged in the Prelude and not counted). Aspect spends are the growth metric.
| Character | Aspect | d4 spends | Aspect d6 spends | Die unrecorded | Total | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baelgrum | Protector's Debt | 8 | 3 (S52 Command ×1, S53 Command ×1, S54 Command ×1) | 0 | 11 | S50–S54 |
| Keyleth | The Righteous Hunt | 7 | 2 (S53 wyrmling kill, S54 harvest) | 0 | 9 | S50–S54 |
| Shade | Arcane Certainty | 5 | 1 (S54 harvest — rolled a 5) | 1 (S52 blindness save) | 7 | S50–S54 |
| Gootcha | Raven's Remembrance | 5 | 1 (S52 crystallizing attack — retroactive d6) | 1 (S54 harvest) | 7 | S50–S54 |
| Xanphina | Hellworn Fury | 6 | 1 (S53 Bestow Curse save) | 1 (S54 harvest) | 8 | S50–S54 |
| Karma | Heartwood Resolve | 5 | 1 (S54 harvest — rolled a 5) | 0 | 6 | S50–S54 |
| Carl | Aye Aye, Captain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Total | — | 36 | 9 | 3 | 48 | — |
Reading the tally: Baelgrum is the clear Aspect specialist — all three of his d6 spends were Command save-DCs in his protection domain, and all three were outcome-deciding. Every other character has exactly one confirmed Aspect spend. Three spends never had their die named at the table (Shade's S52 blindness save, and Gootcha's and Xanphina's S54 harvests — each rolled a 4 or less, so either die is possible); going forward, name the die when you spend.
Domain-fit flags for the DM: the S54 harvest d6s of Shade (Arcane Certainty) and Karma (Heartwood Resolve) sit outside their sheets' domains as written — both rolled 5s, so the d6 was definitely used and allowed at the table. Keyleth's harvest d6 is clean (her domain names "harvesting the deserving dead" explicitly).
Rulings history
- S50: the feat granted — d4 on any d20 test, once per long rest, narration required.
- S52 — the Aspects awaken: repeated in-domain use crystallized an Aspect for all six (Shade and Baelgrum by vision on the first night; Gootcha mid-combat, the DM retroactively upgrading her die). Rulings: any d20 roll qualifies; retroactive application allowed; may raise an imposed save DC; may be spent after you know what you face; camping overnight resets the feat. The table also described a charge pool (base d4 + Aspect d6 = 10 charges at prof +3; d4 costs 4, d6 costs 6; half back on a short rest; 7 + 5 boxes at level 9 per S53) — the character sheets now implement the simpler model: standard d4 ×1/long rest, Aspect d6 ×3/long rest.
- S53: a save-DC boost applies to one creature only of a multi-target spell. Pool scaling with proficiency confirmed (under the pool model).
- 2026-08-09 errata: damage is a legal target for the die — "a less useful usage so I don't see a problem with it" (retroactively blessing Keyleth's S52 #7 and S53 #8).
- S54: harvest checks are legal targets; with a long rest imminent, the whole party may spend on one carcass; Keyleth's d6 explicitly covers "harvesting the deserving dead."
- September 2026 cleanup: canonical Aspect names and domains pulled from the character sheets (including Carl's); the log now records the die on every spend.