Intermission Actions

If contestants choose to spend an Intermission Action to take a Short Rest, they gain all the benefits described on p.186 of the 5E PHB as well as any character abilities that pertain to Short Rests. During a Short Rest, contestants can also attune to a magic item that requires attunement, drink potions or use any other abilities that the DM deems appropriate.

The Gift Shop is a locale within the Fate’s Hand Tavern grounds where contestants can purchase equipment and magic items. Any equipment listed within Chapter 5 of the PHB can be purchased at the listed price so long as the contestant has the required currency to do so.

Contestants can also purchase two different categories of Magic Items from the Gift Shop. The first category are those from the 5E DMG and are priced according to the Sane Magic Items List which can be found online with a PDF search.

The second category of Magic Items available from the Gift Shop are those that cannot be purchased with coin, but can be acquired by way of a special type of barter. These magic items are categorized into three different tiers based on their level of power, Tier 1 for the least powerful and Tier 3 for the most powerful.

To barter for a magic item, a contestant must spin the Wheel of Consequence a number of times equal to the Tier of the item they wish to acquire. This means that in order to purchase a Tier 1 homebrew Magic Item, a contestant must simply spin the Wheel of Consequence once and live with the consequence. To acquire a Tier 3 homebrew Magic Item, a contestant must spin the Wheel of Consequence 3 times, and live with the consequences. The homebrew Magic Items are very powerful, and the consequences are equally potent.

Before acquiring the item and the corresponding consequence(s), the contestant must decide whether they wish to keep the item (and consequence(s), for the episode, or permanently. It is important to note that in the case of consumable items, such as potions, the decision would be changed to either temporary (the next game) or permanent (for the duration of an entire episode).

At the beginning of each episode of CoF, six magic items will be available for purchase via the Wheel of Consequence, two from each Tier. Any race/class/alignment can use any item purchased by way of the Wheel of Consequence, and may ignore any restrictions that might normally be part of the items' description in 5e Sourcebooks.

Any items purchased from the Gift Shop are automatically attuned to the purchaser.

Contestants can drink potions within the Gift Shop.

While in the Fate’s Hand Tavern, contestants are segregated from one another and are not permitted to speak to one another. However, the Parley action allows characters to clandestinely strategize with one another by using an Intermission Action to enter the Parley Circle. The Parley Circle is a pocket dimension within the Fate’s Hand Tavern. It is a place where contestants can talk privately to one another without other contestants being able to hear them. When a contestant selects Enter the Parley Circle as one of their Intermission Actions, they can request that another contestant join them. The invitee can accept or refuse to parley with the contestant that summoned them, and do not have to use an Intermission Action to do so.

Once two or more contestants have agreed to parley with one another, they are able to roleplay together for a period of five minutes.

By using the Cast Spells/Make Preparations Intermission Action, characters can cast a number of spells with a total of up to 1 hour worth of Casting Time. These spells can be rituals or use spell slots so long as the total Casting Time is no more than 1 hour.

Keep in mind that contestants are not permitted to inflict damage or kill one another while in the environs of the Fate’s Hand Tavern. That being said, “debuff” spells (Bane, Hex for example) do not cause damage and are thus, fair game. 

When using this type of Intermission Action, characters can also use any applicable Class or Race abilities and may also use magic items.

An important Intermission Action, particularly in later Rounds of Crucible of Fate, is Conduct Research. This action allows characters to enter the Archives, where an innumerable number of ancient texts reside. These texts can be accessed by stating the subject that one wishes to research. The subject could be a creature that has been encountered, a magic item that has been seen, contents and layout of a room that has been visited. The Archives can only be used to obtain information about subjects from Rooms that have already been discovered in the current or previous episodes of CoF.

This means that contestants cannot request information about subjects pertaining to Rooms that have not yet been visited.