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Refraction allows you to subtly alter the timestream, momentarily splitting the flow of events into multiple diverging futures. In these fractured moments, you alone can explore various outcomes; acting, reacting, failing, or succeeding, and then return to the moment of choice, wiser for what has (or hasn’t) happened.
For a few precious seconds, the universe tolerates this distortion. You can move through potential timelines, each one rippling with possibility. But reality is not so easily fooled. Once you’ve played your hands and peered through the shards, time reasserts itself, collapsing back into a single thread of causality. You must choose which path becomes real…and which are forever unmade.
As you grow in power, so too does your ability to fracture time. You can explore more futures, take more actions within them. But with each use, the universe strains to correct the damage, its patience thinning, its gaze turning. Because time does not like to be toyed with.
CORE MECHANICS
CORE MECHANICS
(From Level 1)
Fracture Point: Once per long rest, you can choose a moment (out of combat) to set as a Fracture Point, a point in time you may return to.
Single Split: At level 1, you can explore 2 potential timestreams . You perform one action (such as trying a lock, persuading a guard, ect.) in each. After seeing the result of each, you pick one stream to remain real while the other is collapsed.
Limits: You may only use Temporal Fracture outside of combat at level 1. Entering combat, taking damage, or doing anything to break concentration ends the exploration prematurely and you continue from where you are and do not revert to the fracture point
SCALING WITH POWER
SCALING WITH POWER
Initiate
Level 1-4
Initiate
Level 1-4
Number of Timestreams: 2
Max Actions p/ Timestreams: 1
Combat Use?: No
Example Use: Attempt two ways to escape a locked room.
Student
Level 5-8
Student
Level 5-8
Number of Timestreams: 3
Max Actions p/ Timestreams: 1
Combat Use?: 1 round of combat
Example Effects: Try 3 different movement strategies in combat
Splitter
Level 9-12
Splitter
Level 9-12
Number of Timestreams: 4
Max Actions p/ Timestreams: 2
Combat Use?: 1 round of combat
Example Effects: Attack twice, cast, or maneuverer
Timelaced
Level 13-16
Timelaced
Level 13-16
Number of Timestreams: 5
Max Actions p/ Timestreams: 2
Combat Use?: 2 rounds of combat
Example Effects: Replay not only your attacks but the enemies retaliations
Paradox
Level 17+
Paradox
Level 17+
Number of Timestreams: 5
Max Actions p/ Timestreams: 3
Combat Use?: 2 rounds of combat
Example Effects: Take more near death risks with less of the... risk
DRAWBACKS
DRAWBACKS
Using this power too frequently creates temporal stress. These effects are cumulative unless rested off or magically healed. Using Temporal Fracture more than once per long rest, or attempting to use it in restricted or cursed areas, may trigger the following effects. These do not override the normal usage limits, but instead penalize attempts to break or bypass them (such as through loopholes, wishes, or artifact use).
Echos (Minor): Triggered after a second use without completing a long rest. Fragments of discarded timelines haunt you as the continuity of your consciousness shifts. You suffer disadvantage on WIS saving throws for 1d4 hours after use.
Bleeding (Moderate): Triggered after a third use before a long rest, or if refracture is used in a magically unstable or consecrated area. Enemies or allies momentarily recall fates that never occurred. Confusion or ghostly damage may manifest at DM discretion (e.g., an enemy seems to dodge an attack that didn’t happen).
Timeline Collapse (Critical): Triggered at DM discretion after egregious use, three or more uses before resting, or any use near gods, ancient beings, or fixed points in history. May cause a Paradox Event, unravelling time itself in that area causing a miryad of effects such as taking damage before being attacked or being stuck in time loops.
ON METAGAMING
ON METAGAMING
Temporal refraction is a power that exists solely within the perception of the one who wields it. When time is split, only player using the ability retains memory of the discarded timelines. The rest of the party both player characters and their playersshould act as though only the chosen outcome ever truly happened. The effectiveness and fairness of this ability rely heavily on trust and roleplay. Players are expected not to metagame knowledge gained in discarded timelines.
So If the player saw a trap in Timeline A but chose Timeline B, no one else remembers the trap.
If in one branch an NPC was persuaded, but in the final timeline they weren’t even approached, players should not assume they "could" be persuaded, because that version never happened.
If a party member died in a discarded timeline, only the refracting player carries the emotional weight of that memory.
Temporal Bleed
There are rare occasions when pieces of erased timelines leak into the minds of others especially after repeated or high-stakes use. This is called Temporal Bleed, and may result in:
Déjà vu or a strong hunch ("I don’t know why, but I feel like we shouldn’t go in there.")
Nightmares, mood shifts, or strange muscle memory (e.g., dodging a blow they were never struck by)
Visions during rest or when using divination, especially if magical forces like gods or powerful undead are involved
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