diff --git a/MECHANICS.md b/MECHANICS.md index 6bbd196..335ea70 100644 --- a/MECHANICS.md +++ b/MECHANICS.md @@ -120,6 +120,51 @@ should be structural, not a reskinned saving throw wearing a different name; potency is beside the point, several of the smallest recorded instances document the pattern most cleanly. +**Named Practitioners.** Some findings carry an eponym — a name attached to +a maneuver or an observed pattern, never a role, so it can't collide with a +spell's `Classes` field. Most spells don't get one; it marks a finding +distinctive enough to be worth attributing. A named spell typically lands +in the 4th-7th level range — the same band the iconic named incantations +of other traditions cluster in — though a low-level "signature move" is a +legitimate exception when the finding is a small, instantly recognizable +trick rather than a scaled-up production. What a name should never do is +default to the low end simply because nobody bothered to raise the +stakes. The name itself is either possessive ("Voss's X," after whoever +gets credited with the move) or a named law ("The Halloran Principle," +after the pattern it describes) — pick whichever reads more like a +personal signature or more like an institutional citation for that +specific finding. A name may recur across more than one finding, and more +than one discipline; check the table below before inventing one that would +duplicate an existing name's territory. As with every other finding, the +visible entry never explains who the person was or what they did to earn +the name — the name implies the legend, it doesn't narrate it. + +| Name | Form | Example Entry | +|---|---|---| +| Voss | Possessive | [Voss's Efficiency Dividend]({{ '/spells/finance/voss-efficiency-dividend/' | relative_url }}) | +| The Halloran Principle | Named principle | [The Halloran Principle]({{ '/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-principle/' | relative_url }}) | +| Delacroix | Possessive | [Delacroix's Full Pivot]({{ '/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-full-pivot/' | relative_url }}) | + +A named practitioner's *findings* aren't tracked here beyond that one +example — the domain pages already index every spell, and this table only +needs to stop two contributors from independently inventing competing +names. A resource, condition, or other phenomenon exclusive to one +practitioner's line (see Conviction, below) is the one exception worth +recording in full, since the whole point of it is that nobody else should +casually reuse it. + +**Conviction (Halloran only).** A resource pool exclusive to Halloran's +own findings — deliberately not offered for reuse elsewhere, unlike every +other phenomenon in this lexicon. A creature under this line's effects has +a pool of Conviction equal to their level, which refills to full at the +start of each fiscal quarter regardless of whether the Conviction spent +last quarter was later vindicated or discredited. Spending 1 point on a +forecast, estimate, or prediction forces any Discovery saving throw +attempted against it to automatically fail. Unlike Runway, nothing about +Conviction depletes on its own, and unlike Windfall, it isn't a one-time +grant tied to an event — it simply comes back, every quarter, on schedule, +independent of the world's opinion of what happened last time. + ## Explicitly Not Tracked Here **`Classes`** (who can cast a given spell) is intentionally excluded from diff --git a/spells/analytics-forecasting/due-diligence.md b/spells/analytics-forecasting/due-diligence.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1073ba5 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/analytics-forecasting/due-diligence.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Due Diligence" +level: 6 +domain: analytics-forecasting +tradition: Divination +--- + +# Due Diligence + +*6th-level Analytics & Forecasting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to commission, though the review itself takes 4 +to 12 weeks
+**Range/Area:** Unlimited; one organization that is the target of a +pending Hostile Takeover, Acquihire, Vertical Integration, or Proxy +Fight
+**Components:** V, S, M (temporary access to a data room, granted by the +target; an engagement letter with an investment bank or accounting firm, +consumed)
+**Duration:** Until the underlying deal closes or is abandoned
+**Classes:** Investment Banker, General Counsel, CFO + +You attempt to divine the target's true financial position, contingent +liabilities, and undisclosed risks before the deal closes. The target's +organization must succeed on a Discovery saving throw, made with +disadvantage for each active Document Retention ward or Silent Settlement +it currently maintains. On a failure, you learn of one material issue the +target was concealing, and may use this knowledge to renegotiate the +deal's terms or withdraw without penalty. + +On a success, the deal proceeds on the terms as represented. Any liability +the target concealed nonetheless transfers to you in full once the deal +closes — this spell reveals what it reveals, but grants no protection +against what it doesn't. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 7th level or +higher, the check extends to cover matters arising after the data room was +assembled but before closing (a Bring-Down). + +--- +**Flavor:** *"No material issues were identified during the course of our +review."* — due diligence memorandum, page 1, three months before a +material issue was identified diff --git a/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-confidence-interval.md b/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-confidence-interval.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f96e8f --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-confidence-interval.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Halloran's Confidence Interval" +level: 4 +domain: analytics-forecasting +tradition: Divination +--- + +# Halloran's Confidence Interval + +*4th-level Analytics & Forecasting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action
+**Range/Area:** Self
+**Components:** V, S, M (a range of values, stated with a precision the +underlying data does not support)
+**Duration:** Until the actual result falls outside the stated range
+**Classes:** VP of Strategy, Director of Data, Analyst + +You state a numerical estimate bounded by an upper and lower value. For +the duration, the estimate is treated as accurate regardless of the true +result, so long as the true result falls within the stated bounds. If the +true result falls outside the bounds, this spell does not end in failure; +instead, you may immediately recast it with the range widened just enough +to contain the true result, at no additional cost and without expending an +additional spell slot. If you have an active Halloran Principle, you may +instead spend 1 point of Conviction to recast it this way even after the +normal window for a free recast has closed. + +This spell can be recast in this manner an unlimited number of times. Each +recasting is presented as a refinement of the previous estimate, never as +a correction of it. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 5th level or +higher, the recast range may be stated in a unit not previously disclosed +(e.g. switching from absolute figures to percentage variance), further +obscuring how far the original estimate had to move. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We're now forecasting a range of $180-220M, down from our +original guidance of $240-260M, reflecting continued confidence in our +core business."* — investor letter diff --git a/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-principle.md b/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-principle.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..03af5c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/analytics-forecasting/halloran-principle.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "The Halloran Principle" +level: 5 +domain: analytics-forecasting +tradition: Divination +--- + +# The Halloran Principle + +*5th-level Analytics & Forecasting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action
+**Range/Area:** Self
+**Components:** V, S
+**Duration:** 1 year
+**Classes:** VP of Strategy, Director of Data, Analyst + +For the duration, you gain a pool of Conviction equal to your level, which +refills to full at the start of each fiscal quarter regardless of whether +the Conviction you spent last quarter was later vindicated or discredited. +Any forecast, estimate, or prediction you state gains the Documented +status automatically. If a creature attempts a Discovery saving throw to +verify one of your forecasts after the fact, you may spend 1 point of +Conviction to force that saving throw to automatically fail. + +The strength of this effect is set by your seniority at the time of +casting, not by the accuracy of any forecast you have previously made — a +target correct once in ten attempts spends Conviction identically to one +correct nine times in ten, provided their level is the same. A creature +affected by this spell who is later proven wrong suffers no penalty to +their remaining Conviction, current or future. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or +higher, your Conviction is treated as though it applies to any forecast +issued by your organization bearing your name, whether or not you were +personally consulted before it was issued. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"He's been wrong about this every year since 2019, but he's +been doing it since 2019, so."* — overheard outside a quarterly planning +review diff --git a/spells/compliance-risk/delacroix-silent-settlement.md b/spells/compliance-risk/delacroix-silent-settlement.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dac2374 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/compliance-risk/delacroix-silent-settlement.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Delacroix's Silent Settlement" +level: 5 +domain: compliance-risk +tradition: Abjuration +--- + +# Delacroix's Silent Settlement + +*5th-level Compliance & Risk* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, contingent on both parties' counsel finalizing +terms, typically weeks to months
+**Range/Area:** One creature or organization bringing a claim against +you
+**Components:** V, S, M (a settlement payment, consumed; a Nondisclosure +spell, cast on the claimant as part of this casting)
+**Duration:** Permanent, so long as the underlying Nondisclosure holds
+**Classes:** General Counsel, CEO, Board + +You resolve a claim, dispute, or allegation against your organization +through payment and binding, rather than through a finding on the +underlying merits. The claim is withdrawn, and any Discovery saving throw +later attempted against the underlying incident automatically fails, +unless the Nondisclosure component is independently broken. + +This spell does not require the underlying incident to be false, resolved, +or even internally disputed by the caster — only that the claimant accept +payment in exchange for binding. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or +higher, you may cast this spell on a claim before it has been formally +filed, preventing it from ever entering any public record. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"The parties are pleased to have reached a mutually +satisfactory resolution and consider this matter closed."* — joint +statement, terms not disclosed diff --git a/spells/compliance-risk/do-insurance.md b/spells/compliance-risk/do-insurance.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fec9c30 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/compliance-risk/do-insurance.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "D&O Insurance" +level: 6 +domain: compliance-risk +tradition: Abjuration +--- + +# D&O Insurance + +*6th-level Compliance & Risk* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to bind, though it must be purchased before any +claim-triggering decision is made
+**Range/Area:** Self, extending to every current officer and director of +your organization
+**Components:** V, S, M (an annual premium, consumed; a policy whose +exclusions nobody reads until a claim is filed)
+**Duration:** 1 year, renewable
+**Classes:** Board, CEO, General Counsel + +For the duration, whenever an officer or director is personally named in a +claim arising from a decision made in that capacity, they may attempt a +Solvency saving throw with advantage, backed by the policy's limits rather +than their own personal assets. Unlike Indemnification, this protection +requires no other creature to have signed anything — it is purchased from +a third party who was never involved in the decision being covered. + +Coverage does not apply to any act the insurer can characterize, after the +fact, as fraudulent, criminal, or undertaken for personal profit rather +than the organization's benefit. This determination is made by the +insurer, not the insured, and is typically made only once a claim large +enough to matter has actually been filed. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 7th level or +higher, coverage may be extended retroactively to a decision made before +the policy was bound, provided the claim itself is filed after. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"the policy shall not cover any Loss arising from any +Wrongful Act committed with actual dishonest, fraudulent, or criminal +purpose or intent"* — policy exclusions, page 41 of 43, discovered during +the claim process diff --git a/spells/compliance-risk/personnel-matter.md b/spells/compliance-risk/personnel-matter.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d81a6b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/compliance-risk/personnel-matter.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Personnel Matter" +level: 4 +domain: compliance-risk +tradition: Abjuration +--- + +# Personnel Matter + +*4th-level Compliance & Risk* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, cast the moment a complaint is received rather +than at the moment of the underlying conduct
+**Range/Area:** Touch; one creature whose continued proximity to the +complainant would otherwise be unavoidable
+**Components:** V, S, M (a signed separation or transfer agreement, +consumed; a severance or continued-compensation payment scaled to +seniority rather than to the underlying conduct)
+**Duration:** Permanent, so long as the resulting Nondisclosure holds
+**Classes:** General Counsel, Chief HR Officer, Board + +Touch the higher-seniority creature involved in a workplace complaint, +typically following an inconclusive result from Summon Human Resources. +That creature must succeed on a Tenure saving throw. On a success, they +are laterally reassigned to a different team, office, or reporting line +with no material loss of title or compensation, and you simultaneously +cast Nondisclosure on the complainant. On a failure — ordinarily only when +the creature's Tenure is unusually low for their conduct's severity — +they are separated from the organization instead, still by mutual +agreement, still with severance, and still under an identical +Nondisclosure. + +Either outcome is recorded internally as resolved. For the duration, any +Discovery saving throw attempted against the underlying complaint — by a +journalist, a subsequent complainant establishing a pattern, a plaintiff's +attorney — automatically fails unless the Nondisclosure component is +independently broken. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 5th level or +higher, you may apply this spell to more than one prior complaint +concerning the same creature, consolidating them into a single +Nondisclosure and a single payment. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"They've decided to pursue other opportunities. We're +grateful for their many contributions and wish them well."* — internal +announcement, sent the same day as a separation agreement neither party is +permitted to discuss diff --git a/spells/finance/10b5-1-plan.md b/spells/finance/10b5-1-plan.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6925b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/finance/10b5-1-plan.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "10b5-1 Plan" +level: 4 +domain: finance +tradition: Evocation +--- + +# 10b5-1 Plan + +*4th-level Finance & Cost-Cutting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to file the plan, though it provides no cover +for any trade executed in the following 30 days (a Cooling-Off Period)
+**Range/Area:** Self
+**Components:** V, S, M (a written trading schedule, filed before the +caster can be shown to have known the information the schedule will later +appear to have anticipated)
+**Duration:** Until the scheduled trades are fully executed
+**Classes:** CEO, C-Suite, Board-Appointed Executive + +You execute a trade in your own organization's securities timed to +information not yet available to the public. Because the trade was +scheduled under this spell before the triggering information can be shown +to have reached you, any Discovery saving throw later attempted to +establish that the trade was made on the information, rather than the +schedule, automatically fails — regardless of how the filing date and the +information's actual origin compare. You gain a Windfall equal to 4d10 +percent of the position's value at the time of casting. + +This spell does not require the schedule to have been filed by anyone +other than you, or reviewed by anyone with the authority to question its +timing. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 5th level or +higher, you may amend the schedule once after filing, provided no third +party has yet inspected it. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Trades under this plan are made pursuant to a pre-arranged +trading plan adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1, at a time when the +executive was not in possession of material nonpublic information."* — +standard disclosure footnote, filed the same week as a material +announcement it does not mention diff --git a/spells/finance/leveraged-buyout.md b/spells/finance/leveraged-buyout.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e2e9aa --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/finance/leveraged-buyout.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Leveraged Buyout" +level: 7 +domain: finance +tradition: Evocation +--- + +# Leveraged Buyout + +*7th-level Finance & Cost-Cutting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to close, though the debt structure is arranged +over 2 to 6 months beforehand
+**Range/Area:** Unlimited; one organization, publicly or privately +held
+**Components:** V, S, M (a debt financing package, secured against the +target's own assets and future cash flow rather than the caster's; a +minority equity check, consumed)
+**Duration:** Until the debt is repaid or the target defaults
+**Classes:** Private Equity Partner, Fund Manager, CFO + +You acquire the target using capital borrowed against its own balance +sheet rather than your own. Ownership transfers to you immediately, as +with Hostile Takeover, but no Solvency saving throw is required at the +time of casting. Instead, for the duration, the target's Runway depletes +at an increased rate equal to 10 points per turn beyond its ordinary +depletion, representing debt service. If the target's Runway reaches 0 +while this spell remains active, it becomes Insolvent as normal — but the +debt was secured against the target's own assets, not yours, and you bear +no liability for the shortfall. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 8th level or +higher, you may refinance the existing debt for more than is currently +owed, extracting the difference to yourself as a Windfall and further +increasing the per-turn depletion rate by 10 (a Dividend Recapitalization). + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We see significant opportunity to unlock value through +operational improvements and disciplined capital allocation."* — deal +announcement, six months before the first round of layoffs funded the +first debt payment diff --git a/spells/finance/voss-efficiency-dividend.md b/spells/finance/voss-efficiency-dividend.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f53bbd --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/finance/voss-efficiency-dividend.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Voss's Efficiency Dividend" +level: 5 +domain: finance +tradition: Evocation +--- + +# Voss's Efficiency Dividend + +*5th-level Finance & Cost-Cutting* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, cast within two fiscal quarters of a Reorg or +Voss's Flattened Hierarchy
+**Range/Area:** Self (organization-wide)
+**Components:** V, S, M (a slide citing "run-rate savings," consumed)
+**Duration:** Instantaneous (booked); indefinite (claimed)
+**Classes:** CFO, VP of Finance, COO + +You declare a cost-savings figure attributable to a prior Reorg or Voss's +Flattened Hierarchy and add it directly to your organization's reported +Solvency ahead of its next earnings call, in an amount equal to 4d10 +percent of the affected division's prior budget. This spell does not +require the underlying spend to have actually decreased — only that a +figure be stated with the same confidence either way — and the reported +increase has no effect on the organization's actual Runway at all. + +Any creature attempting a Discovery saving throw against this claim — an +auditor, a line manager reconciling their own budget — succeeds only if +they can produce the actual spend figures, which are frequently still +being finalized at the time this spell is cast, and are made with +disadvantage if the affected division has undergone more than one Reorg or +Voss spell in the preceding year. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or +higher, the claimed figure is instead attributed to the organization as a +whole rather than a single division, and a failed Discovery saving throw +against it additionally grants the organization a one-time Windfall equal +to the resulting move in stock price. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Our recent organizational changes are expected to deliver +$40M in annualized run-rate savings."* — investor call, Q3, savings not +mentioned again by Q4 diff --git a/spells/legacy-systems/total-rewrite.md b/spells/legacy-systems/total-rewrite.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6eb98f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/legacy-systems/total-rewrite.md @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Total Rewrite" +level: 9 +domain: legacy-systems +tradition: Necromancy +--- + +# Total Rewrite + +*9th-level Legacy Systems & Zombie Projects* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to greenlight, though the rewrite itself takes +18 months to several years, and is not guaranteed to finish
+**Range/Area:** Touch, one Legacy Servant, however large
+**Components:** V, S, M (an engineering team, reassigned in full from all +other work for the duration; a promise that this time it will be done +right, consumed)
+**Duration:** Until the rewrite ships, is cancelled, or becomes a Legacy +Servant itself, whichever comes first
+**Classes:** CTO, VP of Engineering, founder who still remembers the +original architecture + +You attempt to destroy a Legacy Servant permanently and replace it in +full, without ever pausing traffic to it — unlike System Sunset, which +requires the replacement to already be functioning before it's cast. For +the duration, the original Legacy Servant remains active, continuing to +accrue Technical Debt and roll Maintenance saving throws as normal, while +the reassigned team works to complete the replacement in isolation from +it. + +At the end of the duration, roll a Maintenance saving throw for the +rewrite project itself, using a Technical Debt score that increases every +quarter it remains incomplete, exactly as though the rewrite were its own +Legacy Servant. On a success, the rewrite ships, the original Legacy +Servant is destroyed, and no dependent system takes damage. On a failure, +the rewrite is cancelled, quietly becomes a second Legacy Servant +maintained alongside the first, or is restarted from the beginning under a +new architecture and a new promise — the caster's choice, though in +recorded practice it is rarely the first one. + +***At Higher Levels.*** This spell does not become more effective when +cast using a higher-level slot. Only the sunk cost does. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We're going to rewrite it from scratch. This time we'll do +it properly."* — said about the same system, by three different +engineering leads, over nine years diff --git a/spells/marketing-optics/astroturfing.md b/spells/marketing-optics/astroturfing.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a0cef0 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/marketing-optics/astroturfing.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Astroturfing" +level: 5 +domain: marketing-optics +tradition: Illusion +--- + +# Astroturfing + +*5th-level Marketing & Optics* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, though the appearance of organic growth takes +2 to 6 weeks to seed convincingly
+**Range/Area:** Unlimited; any public forum, review platform, or social +media conversation about your organization
+**Components:** V, S, M (a network of accounts, personas, or paid +participants, consumed; a sentiment to be seeded)
+**Duration:** Until a creature makes a deliberate effort to trace the +sentiment's origin
+**Classes:** Communications Lead, Growth Marketing Manager, PR Agency (as +a ritual, at considerable cost) + +You create the appearance of independent, organic public support for your +organization, product, or position. Any creature encountering the +resulting reviews, comments, or coverage perceives it as a genuine +grassroots reaction unless they succeed on a Discovery saving throw +specifically directed at the sentiment's *origin* — scrutiny directed at +its content instead, however rigorous, grants no benefit against this +spell. + +If a creature succeeds on this saving throw, the deception becomes obvious +to any other creature it's revealed to, and this spell cannot be recast +targeting the same forum for the same underlying event. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or +higher, this spell can additionally sway a public sentiment metric tracked +by an Analytics & Forecasting spell, or a Halloran's Read of the Room +consensus, as though the sentiment were organic. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"So glad I switched — this has genuinely changed how my team +works!"* — five-star review, account created the same week, only review +ever posted diff --git a/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-full-pivot.md b/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-full-pivot.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c07a1f --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-full-pivot.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Delacroix's Full Pivot" +level: 6 +domain: marketing-optics +tradition: Illusion +--- + +# Delacroix's Full Pivot + +*6th-level Marketing & Optics* + +**Casting Time:** 1 minute to announce, though the underlying +repositioning takes 6 to 18 months, same as Rebrand
+**Range/Area:** Self, extending to affect perception of the organization's +entire market category
+**Components:** V, S, M (Rebrand, expended as a component; a new company +name, ticker symbol, and founding story)
+**Duration:** Until the next Full Pivot
+**Classes:** CEO, CMO, Board + +This spell functions as Rebrand, except the illusion extends to the +organization's origin, not just its current appearance. Any creature who +recalls the organization's previous name, product, or founding story must +succeed on a Discovery saving throw or find the memory increasingly +difficult to substantiate publicly — search results, press archives, and +former colleagues all become, independently and without coordination, +harder to locate. + +A creature who succeeds on the saving throw retains full and specific +knowledge of the organization's history, but finds no forum in which +stating it is considered relevant to the conversation at hand. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 7th level or +higher, the new founding story may include a claim of having invented the +market category the organization previously entered as a late competitor. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We were never really a [previous company]. We've always been +building toward this."* — founder interview, three weeks after the +S-1 amendment diff --git a/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-non-apology.md b/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-non-apology.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8db5ac0 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/marketing-optics/delacroix-non-apology.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Delacroix's Non-Apology" +level: 2 +domain: marketing-optics +tradition: Illusion +--- + +# Delacroix's Non-Apology + +*2nd-level Marketing & Optics* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, drafted by legal before it is read by the +caster
+**Range/Area:** One publicized incident
+**Components:** V, S, M (a statement containing the phrase "mistakes were +made," consumed)
+**Duration:** Instantaneous
+**Classes:** CEO, Communications Lead, General Counsel + +You issue a statement, shaped like an apology, that concedes no fault and +commits to no specific remedy. Any creature who hears or reads the +statement perceives it as contrition, though it grants no advantage to a +later Discovery saving throw attempting to establish who was actually +responsible for the incident — the statement's language is constructed to +be equally useless as evidence in either direction. + +This spell has no effect on the underlying incident, its cause, or its +consequences, and does not by itself grant the Documented status to +anything the statement contains. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 3rd level or +higher, casting this spell within 24 hours of the precipitating event +reduces the casting time of a subsequent Crisis Management spell targeting +the same incident to 1 action, with no lead time required. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we take full +accountability for ensuring this conversation continues."* — statement, +issued once diff --git a/spells/marketing-optics/narrative-control.md b/spells/marketing-optics/narrative-control.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01930ad --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/marketing-optics/narrative-control.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Narrative Control" +level: 7 +domain: marketing-optics +tradition: Illusion +--- + +# Narrative Control + +*7th-level Marketing & Optics* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, cast before a known negative event becomes +public rather than after (see Crisis Management for the reactive +version)
+**Range/Area:** Unlimited
+**Components:** V, S, M (an exclusive story, offered to a friendly outlet +ahead of the news it's meant to blunt; an embargo agreement, consumed)
+**Duration:** Until the embargoed event breaks independently, or 1 week, +whichever is shorter
+**Classes:** CMO, Communications Lead, CEO + +Choose one event you know is likely to become public and unfavorable to +your organization within the duration. You control which outlet, and in +what framing, the event is first reported. For the duration, any creature +attempting to establish an independent account of what happened has +disadvantage on the Discovery saving throw, for as long as your version +remains the only one in circulation. + +This spell has no effect once the event has already become public through +a source you don't control; at that point, only Crisis Management can be +cast against it. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 8th level or +higher, you may cast this spell as part of the same action as Crisis +Management targeting the same event, gaining the benefits of both without +needing to cast Crisis Management within 24 hours of the event as its +casting time normally requires. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We wanted to get ahead of this story and make sure the full +context was represented accurately."* — background quote, granted to one +reporter, thirty minutes before the story broke everywhere else diff --git a/spells/org-design/spin-off.md b/spells/org-design/spin-off.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad5070b --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/org-design/spin-off.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Spin-Off" +level: 7 +domain: org-design +tradition: Transmutation +--- + +# Spin-Off + +*7th-level Org Design & Process Change* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to announce, though the legal separation takes +6 to 18 months
+**Range/Area:** One division or business unit within your organization
+**Components:** V, S, M (a Form 10, consumed; an allocation of the +parent's existing debt or liability to the new entity, at the parent's +discretion)
+**Duration:** Permanent
+**Classes:** CEO, CFO, Board + +You transmute one division of your organization into an independent +organization, transferring that division's employees, assets, and +whichever debt or liability you choose to assign it. The new entity's +Solvency is tracked entirely separately from yours from that point on. If +it later becomes Insolvent, your organization suffers no Runway or +Solvency consequence as a result, regardless of how much of the original +liability you assigned to it at the time of casting. + +Employees of the affected division may attempt a Tenure saving throw to +remain with the parent rather than transferring to the new entity; the +caster chooses which portion of the division's headcount, if any, is +granted this option. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 8th level or +higher, you may spin off more than one division simultaneously, each +tracked as an independent entity, provided the combined transferred debt +does not exceed your organization's remaining Solvency. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"This separation will allow both companies to pursue their +own distinct strategic priorities with greater focus and agility."* — +joint press release; the spun-off company files for bankruptcy protection +fourteen months later diff --git a/spells/org-design/voss-flattened-hierarchy.md b/spells/org-design/voss-flattened-hierarchy.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92fafdd --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/org-design/voss-flattened-hierarchy.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Voss's Flattened Hierarchy" +level: 3 +domain: org-design +tradition: Transmutation +--- + +# Voss's Flattened Hierarchy + +*3rd-level Org Design & Process Change* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, though it is never billed as 1 action
+**Range/Area:** One management layer within a division
+**Components:** V, S, M (a slide titled "Simplifying How We Work," +consumed; a consulting fee, paid regardless of outcome)
+**Duration:** 1 year, or until Voss is re-engaged (see Voss's Repeat +Engagement)
+**Classes:** COO, VP of People, Chief of Staff + +This spell functions as Reorg, except its effect is narrowed to a single +named layer of middle management rather than an entire org chart. Each +manager in the chosen layer must succeed on a Tenure saving throw. On a +failure, the manager is dismissed and their direct reports are +redistributed one level up; on a success, the manager is redesignated an +"Individual Contributor" or moved laterally at unchanged compensation. + +For the duration, any creature attempting to identify who approves a given +decision has disadvantage on the check, since approval authority was +redistributed but not actually clarified. When the duration ends, a layer +matching the eliminated one's function is reported to have re-formed, +usually under a different title, at a headcount within 10% of the +original. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 4th level or +higher, you may target one additional layer, in a division you can +perceive, for each slot level above 3rd. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We're removing a layer of management to get closer to our +customers."* — internal memo, eleven months before an open req for +"Senior Manager, Customer Proximity" diff --git a/spells/org-design/voss-repeat-engagement.md b/spells/org-design/voss-repeat-engagement.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7221e4e --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/org-design/voss-repeat-engagement.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Voss's Repeat Engagement" +level: 2 +domain: org-design +tradition: Transmutation +--- + +# Voss's Repeat Engagement + +*2nd-level Org Design & Process Change* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, contingent on a new Statement of Work being +executed
+**Range/Area:** Any target of a Reorg or Voss's Flattened Hierarchy whose +duration has already ended
+**Components:** V, S, M (a new engagement letter, consumed; a consulting +fee equal to or greater than the original)
+**Duration:** Same as the spell it recasts
+**Classes:** COO, VP of People, Chief of Staff + +You recast an expired Reorg or Voss's Flattened Hierarchy on the same +target at full effect, without diagnosing what caused the original casting +to lapse. No saving throw is required from any creature who already +succeeded against the original casting — success against this spell does +not carry over from the last one, on the theory that the underlying +condition has changed since then. + +This spell can be cast on the same target an unlimited number of times, at +unlimited expense, provided each casting is preceded by a new engagement +letter. + +***At Higher Levels.*** This spell does not become more effective when +cast using a higher-level slot, and the consulting fee does not decrease +with familiarity. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Bringing back the team that led our transformation work last +year — they know this business."* — kickoff deck, slide 2, same firm +letterhead as last year's diff --git a/spells/procurement/facilitation-payment.md b/spells/procurement/facilitation-payment.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7442d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/procurement/facilitation-payment.md @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Facilitation Payment" +level: 5 +domain: procurement +tradition: Conjuration +--- + +# Facilitation Payment + +*5th-level Procurement & Resourcing* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, though it is never characterized internally as +payment for an official act
+**Range/Area:** One foreign government official or licensing body with +authority over a permit, contract, or customs clearance your organization +requires
+**Components:** V, S, M (a sum of cash or its equivalent, consumed; an +invoice from a conjured Local Agent, describing services never +rendered)
+**Duration:** Instantaneous; the resulting permit, contract, or clearance +persists until formally revoked
+**Classes:** Regional Director, VP of International Operations, General +Counsel (retained to describe the arrangement as compliant) + +You conjure one Contractor — a Local Agent — whose sole function is to +receive your payment and transmit an unspecified portion of it to the +target official. The Local Agent vanishes once the payment is transmitted, +along with any record of how much of it actually arrived. This spell +requires no saving throw; the target official's cooperation is granted +automatically, since the mechanism is structural rather than a test of +anyone's resistance. + +Your organization must succeed on a Discovery saving throw whenever a +regulator in your home jurisdiction investigates the transaction. The save +is made with disadvantage if the Local Agent's invoice describes its +services in specific, verifiable detail, and with advantage if it does +not. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or +higher, you may route the payment through one additional Local Agent for +each slot level above 5th, reducing the disadvantage on the Discovery +saving throw by one step (minimum none) for each intermediary interposed. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Consulting fees paid to third-party intermediaries in +certain jurisdictions, in the ordinary course of business."* — 10-K risk +factors section, page 34 diff --git a/spells/stakeholder-management/halloran-read-of-the-room.md b/spells/stakeholder-management/halloran-read-of-the-room.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d44060a --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/stakeholder-management/halloran-read-of-the-room.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Halloran's Read of the Room" +level: 2 +domain: stakeholder-management +tradition: Enchantment +--- + +# Halloran's Read of the Room + +*2nd-level Sales & Stakeholder Management* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action, cast the moment a meeting ends
+**Range/Area:** One meeting or all-hands the caster attended
+**Components:** V, S (a confident nod; a summary email claiming +consensus)
+**Duration:** Until contradicted in writing
+**Classes:** VP of Strategy, Product Manager, anyone who ran the meeting + +You declare the room's reception of a proposal, decision, or announcement +to be positive and aligned, regardless of the reactions actually present +during the meeting. Every creature who attended without objecting aloud is +treated as having agreed, and becomes Misaligned: privately certain of +whatever they actually understood the outcome to be, while the caster's +summary stands as the official record. + +A creature who wishes to contest this spell's effect must do so in writing +before the summary is sent; an objection raised verbally during the +meeting, no matter how clearly stated, does not count. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 3rd level or +higher, the summary may additionally be forwarded to a creature who was +not present, who is then treated as having agreed as well. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"Great alignment on this today — sending a recap shortly, but +wanted to confirm we're all moving forward as discussed."* — email, sent +to eleven people, four of whom spoke during the call diff --git a/spells/stakeholder-management/proxy-fight.md b/spells/stakeholder-management/proxy-fight.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b545a0e --- /dev/null +++ b/spells/stakeholder-management/proxy-fight.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +layout: spell +title: "Proxy Fight" +level: 7 +domain: stakeholder-management +tradition: Enchantment +--- + +# Proxy Fight + +*7th-level Sales & Stakeholder Management* + +**Casting Time:** 1 action to file (a proxy statement), though the vote +itself is not held for 2 to 4 months
+**Range/Area:** Special; one organization in which you hold a qualifying +stake
+**Components:** V, S, M (a competing slate of board nominees, consumed; a +proxy solicitation budget, consumed)
+**Duration:** Until the vote is certified
+**Classes:** Activist Investor, Fund Manager, Board Nominee + +Choose one organization in which you hold a qualifying stake and one or +more seats currently held on its board. Rather than persuading +shareholders to side with you informally, as with Activist Campaign, you +compel a formal vote on your nominees directly. Every shareholder of +record must be solicited; a shareholder who does not return a vote is +counted as voting with the incumbent board, regardless of their actual +opinion of either slate. + +If your nominees receive a majority of votes cast, they replace the +incumbents holding the contested seats at the conclusion of the meeting, +with full authority effective immediately. If they do not, you may not +file another Proxy Fight against the same organization for one year, +though an active Activist Campaign is unaffected and may continue. + +***At Higher Levels.*** When cast using a spell slot of 8th level or +higher, an active Due Diligence finding may be published as part of your +solicitation materials, granting disadvantage on the incumbent board's +collective Tenure saving throw for the duration of the vote. + +--- +**Flavor:** *"We urge shareholders to vote the WHITE card and reject the +incumbent board's continued mismanagement."* — solicitation mailer, one of +eleven received by the same shareholder that quarter