Tempered Soul/Usage Log

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Revision as of 15:23, 19 June 2026 by Wvaske (talk | contribs) (Create Tempered Soul usage tracker: per-character tables logging every use (what was empowered, the feeling, a verbatim quote, outcome), seeded with all 12 S50 first-uses; a tally; and a DM-only spoiler box documenting the secret Spark→Aspect→fuller-form evolution (bigger die / narrower domains) with per-character emerging-domain hypotheses)
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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.

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. Logging all three — with a verbatim quote — lets us watch each character's version of the feat take shape over time.

How to log a use

For every spend, add a row to that character's table below:

  • Session it happened in.
  • Empowered — the exact roll or effect (an attack, a save, a save DC raised, a check, a harvest roll).
  • Feeling & how they described it — the emotion, memory, or instinct, quoted verbatim.
  • Outcome — did the d4 change the result?

Usage by character

Baelgrum

# Session Empowered Feeling & how described (quote) Outcome
1 S50 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 Save DC — raised the Wisdom save DC of his 4th-level Spirit Guardians vs. the Dragon Turtle Confidence + protectiveness + awe: "I'm feeling… Confidence? … want to sort of protect these dude 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 1, failed the DC 19; 19 damage + slowed

Keyleth

# Session Empowered Feeling & how described (quote) Outcome
1 S50 Attack — bow shot vs. the Hydra (No clear inspiration named) fear/anger: "I can't think of an inspiration right now. Other than fear… angry, as usual." Hit; 12 damage
2 S50 Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass Vengeful & righteous: "as I start harvesting the corpse… I find myself relishing it more than I probably would have in the past. Feeling vengeful and righteous." Result deferred

Shade

# Session Empowered Feeling & how described (quote) Outcome
1 S50 Attack — Chromatic Orb (fire) vs. the Hydra Pure confidence: "what I'm feeling is just, like, pure confidence." Hit (32); 40 fire damage — killed the Hydra
2 S50 Attack — 3rd-level Chromatic Orb (acid) vs. the Dragon Turtle Bloodlust + confidence + anger: "the feelings that I have right now are, like, bloodlust and confidence… all my new power has been wonderful. And I'm really mad, because I also got some of his steam." Hit (24); 30 acid damage

Gootcha

# Session Empowered Feeling & how described (quote) Outcome
1 S50 Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) Longing for rest: "My intention is that I need rest, and I'm looking forward to sweet dreams." Not individually resolved on-screen
2 S50 Hex — raised the Dragon Turtle's Dex-save burden while hexed (DM ruling) Memory of the slain dragon: "As I'm hexing him, I am thinking of a memory of the dragon… that we just killed." Set up disadvantage on the turtle's Dexterity saves

Xanphina

# Session Empowered Feeling & how described (quote) Outcome
1 S50 Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) — no emotion narrated (purely mechanical): "I'm gonna use mine, too." Not individually resolved
2 S50 Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass Rage: "I'm viewing my harvesting with rage, because I'm still raging, so that's what I feel." 12 total (result deferred)

Karma

# Session Empowered Feeling & how described (quote) Outcome
1 S50 Long-rest Constitution save / Survival check (DC 18) — no emotion narrated (purely mechanical): "Might as well use mine." Not individually resolved
2 S50 Harvesting roll — Dragon Turtle carcass Curiosity: "Pure curiosity and interest. I want to know what we're going to be able to make from this." 26 ("close")

Tally

Character Total uses With a feeling narrated Purely mechanical
Baelgrum 2 2 0
Keyleth 2 1 (1 vague)
Shade 2 2 0
Gootcha 2 2 0
Xanphina 2 1 1
Karma 2 1 1
Total 12 8 (+1 vague) 3

⚠ DM ONLY — the players do not know any of this yet. Do not read aloud.

Tempered Soul evolves. It begins as a Spark (the current 1d4 anyone-can-use form). With enough logged uses it can grow — first to an Aspect, then to a fuller, named form. As it evolves, the die size increases (d4 → d6 → d8 → …) but the domains it can empower narrow: it stops being a generic bonus and becomes tied to the specific emotional/thematic territory the character keeps returning to. That is exactly why this log exists — the narrated feelings, not the rolls, decide what each character's Tempered Soul becomes.

Watch the pattern in the "Feeling" column. The recurring emotion is the seed of each character's eventual domain. Working hypotheses from the first session of use:

Character Uses Current tier Emerging domain (recurring feeling) Notes
Baelgrum 2 Spark Protection / loyalty — channels it to "protect my new friends" both times Strikingly consistent for a one-session-old PC
Shade 2 Spark Confidence / power / bloodlust — "pure confidence," "bloodlust and confidence… all my new power" Fits her reborn-wizard arrogance
Keyleth 2 Spark Vengeance / righteousness — "vengeful and righteous"; otherwise "angry, as usual" First combat use had no real inspiration
Gootcha 2 Spark The dead / memory — "a memory of the dragon we just killed" (+ longing for rest) Dovetails with her Raven Queen patronage
Xanphina 2 Spark Rage — "because I'm still raging, so that's what I feel" Other use was mechanical; rage is the live thread
Karma 2 Spark Curiosity / knowledge — "pure curiosity… I want to know what we can make" Other use was mechanical

Thresholds, the upgraded die sizes, and each narrowed domain's exact wording are yours to set — fill them in as the pattern firms up. A character who keeps using it mechanically (no feeling) is effectively not feeding the evolution; that itself is signal.