It was incredible, that boy could barely conjure a spark of fire under my tutelage... but when he watched that goblin chief pierce his sister... I have never seen such furious fire since the days of the Magus Simulacra evokers at the peak of their powers. But the pain it caused that boy, he swore off of magic forever afterwards, potential wasted.
- A Peridotan mage reflects on his students ability to take the heroic risk.
When the chips are down, when the stakes are too high and your back is against the wall. A hero will find a final reserve to use in a moment of desperation, momentarily gazing into the endless ocean of their potential... and plunging in... at a great price to their mortality and their minds.
As the heroes of this game, when in a state of roleplay desperation or deep significance, you can call on a Heroic Risk.
When completing a heroic risk a player declares a single class ability for a class their characters belong to across the class table (not just a level they already possess), at which point, their character activates and uses the ability.
When the ability is used (or expires) the character then pays the heavy cost of using that ability as they will take damage equal to the hit dice difference between their current level and the level of ability they chose (for example, if a level 3 paladin chose to use the oath of vengeance 20th level skill then, at the end of that skill, they take 17d10 damage) this damage cannot be halved and, if it reduces a character to 0 hit points, that character must immediately make 4 death saving throws and take the results.
A character, additionally, takes 1d6 points of exhaustion on using the heroic risk (however, if they hit a six they are instead incapacitated for the next day rather than dead).
This ability can also be used to cast a higher level spell, with the spell chosen by the player instead being taken as a class ability that unlocks at the minimum level to cast the spell.
If a player uses Heroic Risk, they cannot use it again until they level up.
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