Mystara of the Five Spheres RPG - Downtime Page

Mystara of the Five Spheres - Downtime Rivals in Mystara

ADDITIONAL EVENT/ACTIVITY THAT CAN OCCUR DURING DOWNTIME

A rival for a character should be created by the player for that character and can use the information found in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything as an example.

This is a good chance for the player to create another NPC in the world who they can interact with and can work behind the scenes to make the campaign richer and more entertaining.

Once they become a thorn in the party’s side, the player can then watch on in amusement as their create takes on a life of its own. While it was created by the player, once it is let loose into the world it will evolve into what it needs to be to meet the storyline, so while it was once known, it will even surprise its creator when given the chance to bloom.

Players are encouraged to create goals, assets, plans and actions for their rivals as proposals to the Dungeon Master.

Rivals can be considered alternate characters depending on what the players come up with, or just a thorn in their side. Either way having a story of a hero who is their rival competing with everything that they are trying to do will just help them inspire their own character to achieve more.

This aspect is intended as a roleplaying foil, not as a mechanical foil for the characters. If they really wish to take out a rival hero, then they are not really a hero in my games and trip up on the number 1 rule of no evil players or characters.

What does the Rival Do? - The rival (chosen by the player) will achieve the characters goals before they do, or make it harder for them to achieve those goals. Mechanically it can be used as a penalty for each rival result to future checks until the rival is appeased, but I prefer to do this in game rather than as a simple check.

Mystara of the Five Spheres - Downtime Rivals Modifiers Overview

Mystara of the Five Spheres - Downtime Rivals BECMI Overview

TBA - Will detail how the original game worked.

Mystara of the Five Spheres - Downtime Rivals 5E Overview

TBA - Will detail how 5th Edition worked.

Mystara of the Five Spheres - Downtime Rivals A5E Overview

TBA - Will detail how Level Up worked.