When all else fails, an adventurer can turn to an honest trade to earn a living. This activity represents a character’s attempt to find temporary work, the quality and wages of which are difficult to predict.
Work can always be done in Stoneleaf, Daring Heights, Fort Ettin, New Hillborrow, or Port Ffirst.
With DTDM agreement, Work can be done anywhere suitable work is available.
The Work DTA can be carried out by spending either 1 Light or 1 Taxing DTA slot. Only 1 Light DTA slot per DT week can be spent for the Work DTA.
To determine how much money a character earns, the character makes an ability check: Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics), Intelligence using a set of tools, Charisma (Performance), or Charisma using a musical instrument. If a Taxing DTA slot was spent, add a +2 bonus. Consult the Wages and Earnings table to see up to which lifestyle the character can live that week according to the total of the check.
The Work DTA can be done using ability checks other than the ones listed above. DTDMs will consider these ability check requests on a case-by-case basis. If you want a quick no-fuss Work DTA, the ability checks listed above remain guaranteed to be okay to use (assuming they fit with what your character is doing for the Work DTA).
Wages and Earnings
Check Total | Outcome |
1-11 | Up to poor lifestyle for the week |
12-16 | Up to modest lifestyle for the week |
17-20 | Up to comfortable lifestyle for the week |
21+ | Up to comfortable lifestyle for the week, plus 25gp |
Characters can still choose a lifestyle for the week above what they earned. They will have in that case to pay the difference between the two.
Characters carrying out this DTA with a trained pet might gain extra benefits. See the commands descriptions in the Pet Training section for details.
Ordinary work is sometimes not free from its own complications. Every 1 Light DTA slot spent working brings a 5% chance of a complication. Every 1 Taxing DTA slot spent working brings a 10% chance of a complication. Consult the Work Complications table to determine which complication arises, if needed.
Work Complications
d6 | Complication |
1 | A difficult customer or a fight with a co-worker reduces the wages you earn by one category. |
2 | Your employer’s financial difficulties result in your not being paid. |
3 | An accident at work resulting in you breaking some important equipment or supplies. You are required to pay 4d4 gp for its repair. |
4 | You cause an injury to a co-worker and have agreed to cover their shift while they heal. Your next available Taxing DTA Slot must be spent covering their work shift, for which you gain no pay. |
5 | You are accused of gross misconduct in the workplace. Stealing stock, leaving work early or possibly indulging in illegal activity while at work. You are barred from working there ever again and won’t find new opportunities for the Work DTA in your next available 2 DT weeks. |
6 | You gain a reputation for laziness (unjustified or not, as you choose), giving you disadvantage on checks made for the Work DTA for the next 3 times you perform it. |