A bar fight breaks out. Adventurers roll an Athletics or Acrobatics check to participate nonlethally. Adventurers with proficiency in at least one martial melee weapon gain an expertise die on this check. In most settlements, making an attack roll in such an altercation (such as using offensive magic or a lethal weapon, including an adept’s unarmed strike) results in combat and the calling of the town guard, ending this activity and likely that adventurer’s night out.

Note: This activity cannot be chosen when the Night Out begins—it is instead the result of other activities. If this happens, wait until the rest of the party has made their own activity checks and resolve any other triggered Brawls at the end as one large free-for-all.

The adventurer(s) who triggered this activity can’t opt out, but any other adventurers can choose to participate with no effect on their own chosen activity. In this case, they can choose to roll as well, potentially gaining a benefit, or to support an adventurer that triggered the bar fight. Doing so grants a +1 bonus to the chosen adventurer’s Brawl check.

Critical Failure. The adventurer fails to hold their own and their confidence is shaken. They are rattled for 24 hours. They can make a Wisdom saving throw every 4 hours, ending the effect early on a success.

Failure. The adventurer takes several hard blows and suffers a level of fatigue that is removed after 24 hours.

Success. The adventurer defeats all comers and feels invincible. For the next 24 hours, the adventurer gains an expertise die to Intimidation checks in this settlement. Additionally, during this time the adventurer can turn the next critical hit they take into a regular hit, as if sacrificing a shield.

Critical Success. The adventurer stands unscathed and triumphant. As a success, and roll on the Bar Trophies table.

Night out activities function similarly to downtime or journey activities, but take place over the course of only a couple hours, usually (but not necessarily) over the course of an evening. While these activities are commonly undertaken in taverns, they can also take place in casinos, coffee houses, and similar establishments. Each activity can be performed by any number of adventurers at the same time, though each makes their own roll.

Unless otherwise stated, an adventurer can only perform one such activity each day. This doesn’t mean they can only do one thing for that period, but the choice represents what they invest the most time in and the only one that provides a mechanical effect. When making an ability check for a night out activity, an adventurer may achieve a success or a failure, or a critical success or a critical failure, each with a different outcome. At the Narrator’s discretion, certain negative outcomes can be removed with spells such as lesser restoration or items such as antitoxin, but otherwise resolve within 24 hours or after a successful saving throw.

Before starting a Night Out, the Narrator and the players should decide whether the goal is for it to be a brief interlude or the set up for a lengthy roleplaying session. Players should never be pushed into to taking part in a Night Out, and it is important for the Narrator to clarify in which way they will be used in case a player intends to sit out. Obviously such things occasionally go awry, and a single roll or witty comment could transmute what was intended to be a brief interlude turn into an entire raucous session. In such cases it’s suggested that the Narrator offer any adventurers who would otherwise have chosen a quiet night in another chance to join in the evening’s hijinks.

Additionally, this system is intended to be a fun break from the main plot. While of course Narrators may choose to allow adventurers to discover plot-relevant information during this time or potentially meet a particular NPC, it’s best to avoid any “load-bearing” scenes or interactions without informing the players. That said, night out activities do not happen in a vacuum—poor behavior, being caught thieving, or using lethal force will likely have consequences in the settlement, whether social or legal.

Available Activities. A Night Out can only occur in an occupied area. This is most often a Country Shire, Open Roads, or Urban Township, but army encampments, druid groves, and mysteriously isolated taverns in dark woods may also allow for certain night out activities. The Narrator determines which night out activities can be performed, based on location, settlement size, and the tone and themes of the game.

Difficulty Class. Like journey activities, the DC of a night out activity is based on the region’s tier: tier 0 — DC 10, tier 1 — DC 12, tier 2 — DC 14, tier 3 — DC 16, tier 4 — DC 18. The Narrator may also rule that a region may grant advantage or disadvantage to certain activities.

Modifying DC. The Narrator can raise the DC on a night out activity based on extenuating circumstances. Here are some suggestions for modifying a night out activity’s difficulty class:

• Dangerous Times (+2) may have the whole population on edge, making them scarce and generally less friendly.
• Multitasking (+3) such as attempting a night out activity while trying not to be identified, may make it harder to attempt the check.
• Bad Reputation (+2–4) may make it difficult to interact with the locals, impeding a check made to Perform, Look for Romance, or Rumormonger.

Adventurers may choose to simply not pay certain fees, tolls or other costs, but this in itself comes at a price. Within 1d4 days, a squad of devils will be dispatched to extract payment—with compounding interest, of course—or retribution. The composition of this group varies with the party’s level, but should be at least a hard matchup, or even a deadly one. If the adventurers attempt to escape their debts by fleeing the Lower Planes, the squad will almost certainly follow—Hell does not look kindly on failure.

The Ka-Teni have a number of useful devices and discoveries that allow them to survive in their mountain home.

Fortifying Tea. Made from tea trees high in the mountains of the Ka-Teni, this hot drink allows humanoid creatures that consume it to ignore one level of fatigue for up to four hours. Making the tea also consumes 1 Supply, but will results in 8 doses of tea and may be stored to drink cold for up to a week.

Portable Altimeter. This device has a number of air bladders inside it, allowing it to measure relative altitude. The pressure-sensitive device can also detect when bad weather is coming, giving advance warning of snow and other storms. You can accurately read the device with a DC 10 Engineering or Survival. A successful read grants you an expertise die on checks and saving throws to navigate snow storms or similar conditions. However, if you take thunder damage, the device is damaged. It can be repaired with a DC 10 jeweler’s tools check.

Skis. Finely polished planks strapped to the boots of the wearer,skis allow for swift crosscountry and down-hill travel in snow. It takes 5 minutes to don or doff skis (though the ties can be cut as an action, the skis are then considered broken). In difficult terrain caused by heavy snow, you can take the Dash action as a bonus action across level ground or the Sprint action as a bonus action if going downhill. While wearing skis you have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws unless you choose to throw yourself prone.

Snow Goggles. Sunlight on snow can cause a blinding glare, resulting in severe pain and disorientation for many creatures. Snow goggles, made from wood or bone, have a small eye slit carved into them in order to cut this glare.This allows the wearer to operate normally when otherwise they would suffer disadvantage to Survival checks and ranged attacks. While wearing the goggles, you suffer disadvantage on Perception checks related to sight.

Snow Shoes. Large wicker constructions with a broad sole, these prevent the wearer from sinking into snow. Donning these shoes takes two minutes and allows the wearer to only decrease their movement speed by 5 feet instead of halving it when on difficult terrain caused by snow. Shoes must be worn on all feet to gain the benefits. They cause disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, but grant an expertise die (+3) to the DC for resisting knockdown attempts.

The Ka-Teni are a seasonally migrating people that spend eight months of the year in their fortified mountain homes, and the rest making the most of a short growing season in the thawed valleys below with their herds of long-haired cattle. They value community and the passing on of knowledge above all else, as they would otherwise not survive their harsh lifestyle, but also laud the storytellers and artisans that make the dreary winters bearable. Many of the Ka-Teni are the specially adapted Snow-Spotted pantherans, but dwarves, birdfolk, and garoul are well-represented among them, along with a smattering of other heritages.

Apprenticeship. As a child you were taught the basics of a trade, though your profession may have later deviated from it. If you are already proficient with a skill or piece of equipment granted by this culture, you instead gain an expertise die. Choose one of the following:

Crafter: You are proficient with woodcarver’s tools, jeweler’s tools, and tinker’s tools.
Farmer: You are proficient in Athletics and with leatherworker’s tools.
Healer: You are proficient in Medicine and with the herbalism kit.
Herder: You are proficient in Animal Handling and with land vehicles.
Storyteller: You are proficient in Performance and with either the disguise kit or an instrument of your choice.

Beacon Finder. To help guide hunters and travelers to safety, Ka-Teni settlements install beacon stones, which are made uniformly enough to be located with the locate object spell. You can cast locate object once per long rest. Your spellcasting ability for this spell is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (whichever is highest).

Catnap. When you take a short rest, instead of spending hit dice to recover hit points, you can recover a number of hit dice equal to half your proficiency bonus by spending the time taking a nap instead.

Skilled Brewer. You are well-versed in brewing soothing tisanes. Once per long rest, you may spend ten minutes and a use of a healer’s satchel to make one dose of a hot drink. A creature that consumes it reduces its strife by one level, but it can only benefit in this way once per week. In addition, if you brew fortifying tea (see Table: Ka-Teni Equipment), it allows creatures to ignore 2 levels of fatigue instead of one.

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign in Common, Dwarvish, and two others.

The ways across nations are long and dark, and as the light of civilization fades into the distance it is only the Rhode Wardens that provide a glimmer of hope in the wild lands that lie between. The Rhode Wardens are guards and hunters, carrying the torch of civilization down the darkest roads and hunting down whatever stalks weary travelers.

Rhode Wardens

Beholden to no government but hired by many, the Rhode Wardens establish stations along the long roads and winding paths and patrol the routes in between. With a bit of coin, nobles and settlement leaders can ensure their routes are secure, without committing forces beyond their walls. Though they are few in number, a single warden can cover great tracts of land, providing valuable intelligence and advance warning.

Structure: Council of lodge leaders, led by an elected head council member.

Symbol: The silhouette of a diving hawk.

Base of Operations: Decentralized. Reedside Station (Grade 5 training hall) serves as a center of operations, while most stations are Grade 2 or 3 encampments or training halls.

Beliefs: The cities and the wilds both deserve respect; the hunt should be undertaken quickly and honorably, regardless of the quarry.

Goals: Protect travelers and settlements; protect both nature and civilization from each other.

Tireless Hunters. The Rhode Wardens work to keep beasts and monsters that endanger remote settlements and the roads that connect them in check. Whole monster populations often decline sharply before the rest learn not to threaten well-traveled paths. Whether on principle or as a paid job, wardens often find humanoids in their sights as well—bandits rarely prosper on their roads, and when caught are treated as less than beasts, left to bleed out unceremoniously in the dirt. For those with a price on their heads, escaping the reach of the town guards often means running right into the waiting arms of the Wardens. Few bounty hunters or thief catchers chase their prey past national borders, but these hunters know no such limitations once they have chosen their quarry.

Old Hunters’ Holds. According to their own lore, the Rhode Warden stations started as simple hunting lodges along the roads— places where a tired trapper or a wounded hunter could rest and recuperate before making the long trek home with their catches. The tricks of the old hunters were passed to the new, and with many watchful eyes and full quivers their humble hunting trails became safer than well-traveled roads. The modern warden stations still reflect their humble origins, and the innocuous thatch longhouses mask the lethal accuracy waiting within.

Eyes of the Hawk. Young hunters must prove their worth by bringing in the fresh head and pelt of some monster that haunts the local area. If successful, the head is stuffed and mounted on the wall beside each other wardens’ prize, and the pelt is ceremoniously cut into their coat. With training in the ways of the Unerring Hawk, these young hunters are molded into proper Rhode Wardens. No hunters can hope to rival their aim, and no creature walks their path unnoticed.

Whether they are synthetic gems, symbols imbued with psionic power, or carefully knotted cords that encourage mindful concentration, psionic foci are items that allow creatures with psionic abilities to concentrate on two powers. Their rarity and cost can vary greatly from planet to planet. Cyberware that serves as a psionic focus can be found under Enhancement Implants.

A psionic focus allows a creature to concentrate on more than one psionic power simultaneously as long as the sum of the powers’ levels is less than or equal to their power rating. If the manifester’s concentration is disrupted, such as if they are pushed or take damage, they roll for both powers individually. Both powers’ effects still end early if the manifester is killed or incapacitated.

Psychic Crystals

Crystals, gems, and precious stones have long been used as shiny adornments, for healing rituals, and as valued treasures. But there are some naturally occurring crystals that resonate at a frequency with which psionic minds can interact, allowing them to work as psionic foci. The Narrator determines the rarity and availability of such crystals within your campaign setting, but they are likely coveted treasures.

The musical arts grow and innovate as artists gain access to new technologies and new potential sounds. Musical instruments are a type of tool, and the following instruments have been added to the list of instruments found in Adventurer’s Guide.