Wyrd of the Week: Victory from the Ashes

 In this week's Wyrd of the Week, we're going to discuss one of my favorite tropes in heroic fantasy literature. We've all read stories or seen movies where the heroes have been beaten and broken, laying defeated at the mercy of some terrible villain. Yet somehow, together, they dig down deep and find that final spark of courage that saves the day. They snatch Victory from the Ashes.

Victory from the Ashes

    If a player character is facing off against a foe with a Despair Rating high enough to require a Despair Saving Throw and that character is reduced to zero Endurance they can do one of two things to avoid defeat and death: Draw Upon the Strength of Fellowship or Find Inspiration from the Legends of Old.

Draw Upon the Strength of Fellowship: If the character has succeeded on a Bearing-based Saving Throw to Relax Around the Campfire (see THJ2e Core Rules, page 90), they can forgo the benefit of that effect in order to immediately succeed on the Grievous Saving Throw required when reduced to 0 Endurance. Moreover, the character's Endurance becomes 1d4 per level of that character. So, a 3rd-level character reduced to 0 Endurance who Draws Upon the Strength of Fellowship immediately goes from 0 Endurance to 3d4 Endurance. In order to use this ability, one other person who was present when the character succeeded in the aforementioned Bearing-Based Saving Throw to Relax Around the Campfire must be physically present.

Find Inspiration in the Legends of Old: Recalling the heroes that inspired them to take up the road to adventure, a character reduced to 0 Endurance can spend a single Myth Point. They immediately recover 1d4 Endurance per character level, are immune to the effects of Despair from Overwhelming Evil for the remainder of the encounter, and receives Advantage on their next Attack Roll and damage roll made against the villain who initially reduced them to 0 Endurance.

Regardless of which option is taken, a character can only snatch Victory from the Ashes once per encounter.

For more information on The Hero's Journey, Second Edition or to purchase a copy you can go to DriveThruRPG where the core rules and a line of supplements are available for purchase.