Boons & Patrons
A boon is support from the world: a patron's favor, faction access, temporary blessing, safehouse, secret, title, audience, escort, legal protection, or rare service.
- Define who grants the boon and why they are willing to help.
- Choose whether the boon is temporary, renewable, permanent, or conditional.
- Set the practical benefit in play: access, information, advantage, equipment, spellcasting, travel, shelter, or authority.
- Define the limit so the boon does not replace class features or erase adventure pressure.
- Record the cost: obligation, visibility, rival attention, moral compromise, debt, or future request.
Patrons can provide missions, intelligence, introductions, safe routes, transport, expert hirelings, and rescue options when the relationship is healthy.
A useful boon should create future play. The favor may expire, anger rivals, require discretion, or force the party to choose whose help they accept.
Minor boons solve a local problem: lodging, introductions, a discount, a rumor, a guide, or temporary legal cover.
Major boons change the party's reach: faction authority, protected travel, expert services, restricted lore, or access to powerful NPCs.
Dangerous boons help immediately but create new pressure through debt, visibility, moral compromise, rival attention, or political ownership.
Use boons as campaign glue: they connect good deeds, faction play, reputation, and downtime back to concrete benefits at the table.