You can use a countdown to track progress toward an event, consequence, or adversary move. Some stat blocks and adventures specifically call for a countdown, but feel free to use them in any scene you wish.

Countdown Die

When you want to represent the passage of time or events leading to a dramatic climax—such as an impending adversary move or a significant narrative event—you can use your d20 or another die as a countdown die to track that progression. Choose a die with your desired starting value on it and put it on the table with that number facing up. For example, if your starting value is 5, you can use a d6 set to 5 as your countdown die.

Each time the countdown ticks down, turn the die to reduce its value by one. When the countdown ticks down from 1 to 0 (which doesn’t appear on the die), the countdown ends and triggers the event you were counting down to. If you ever need to continue a countdown across sessions, record the current countdown value so you can continue counting next session.

If you don’t want to use dice to track your countdowns, you can alternatively draw a number of small boxes equal to the starting value and fill them in as the countdown progresses.

Using a Countdown

When you introduce a countdown, you can either directly tell the players you’ve done so (“I’m starting a countdown to when the army attacks—what do you want to do before then?”) or imply it through your narration (“The bridge is starting to crack, and it won’t last long”.). It’s up to you whether you keep the countdown die visible to the players (increasing the tension each time it ticks down) or secretly use it to track an event they can’t predict.

When you’re designing a countdown (or using one from an adversary stat block), consider three elements:

• Activation: What moment in the fiction prompts you to activate the countdown? For example, a countdown might activate when the PCs stealthily enter an enemy camp.
• Advancement: When does the countdown advance, prompting you to tick down the die by 1? For example, a countdown might advance whenever a PC makes an action roll, or it might advance only on certain roll results.
• Effect: What happens when the countdown ends? For example, a countdown might trigger a powerful enemy attack or a wave of allies arriving to save the day.