“She may not rise, lest a storm rage for 7 days and 7 nights without relent”: the safeguard is the trigger, and the weather is the plot. Pairing five statted groups with a d6 activity column gives thirty scenes off one table, so the referee never invents what anyone is doing? The crown giving +1 max HP an hour: two hours to help the village, four to save Marlus, so every mercy is priced in boss health, just sick.