The Rule of Cool

Intrinsic to this system is the “Rule of Cool”. Players need to be rewarded for doing dramatic, exciting, daring, or otherwise “cool” things. This includes playing into their oaths to the point where it dramatically affects the story. In short, if an action or decision makes the story better and more exciting, reward the player for it.

A player taking such an action gains one of the following, at the GM’s discretion:

• 1 Hero Dice. (It can be spent on the action or saved for later.)
• A reduction in the DC of the action by 5.
• A mitigation of or reduction of the consequences of said action.

The last one is key: letting players do something cinematic and reducing or eliminating the consequences is a core expectation of the game; if it’s fun for everyone let them do it. If a character wants to leap off their horse, over a cliff, and cleave their foe in twain- go for it. Maybe give them half damage from the fall and give them no penalty on the attack roll for that. If they want to play Russian Roulette, let them roll twice and take the better result. Characters are the heroes of their story and we’re all here to tell an interesting or exciting story.

That philosophy goes deeper: the GM should act collaboratively with the players in terms of storytelling if it makes things interesting. It’s perfectly acceptable for a player to ask, “Wait, they’re an orc? Can I say they’re my cousin?” and the GM has discretion to allow it for a more engaging story.