# Burnout Sometimes, the flow of magic goes against you. It’s hard to shape, it’s too chaotic, it’s too powerful—whatever the reason, some magic energy lashes out during your spellcasting attempt and causes you some harm. This is called burnout and it can happen to any caster, whether arcane or divine. Magic is dangerous work. ## Triggering Burnout If you are a spellcaster, set aside a d12 — this is your Burnout die. Whenever you attempt to cast a spell of of equal to or higher than your level/4 (rounded down), roll the Burnout die; on a 1 or 2, the power is overwhelming and you trigger a burnout event — two things happen to you: **Your Burnout Die gets Smaller:** Your burnout die starts as a d12, but each time you suffer burnout the die becomes one size smaller, representing the disruption of the weave around you. The die is decremented as follows: 1d12 → 1d10 → 1d8 → 1d6 → 1d4 *As your die shrinks it becomes increasingly more likely that you will trigger further burnout—so be careful.* **You suffer a Consequence:** Roll a d100 and check the \[\[Burnout Consequences.pdf|Burnout Consequences\]\] table to see what effect your burnout has. Consequences become increasingly more severe the higher your spell level, so beware. If a consequence doesn’t fully apply to you, or doesn’t make sense for the situation, roll again. Alternatively, the DM may—at their discretion—pick a consequence specifically for you. Suffering burnout doesn’t mean your spell failed—it simply means you were hurt somehow during the attempt. ## Recovering from Burnout - 5e Once a burnout die is decremented, it remains that size until you take a recovery action. There are three primary means of recovering from burnout: * You can spend a hit die during a short rest to increment your burnout die by one step. You don’t gain any healing from hit die spent in this way. * Take a long rest: Once you complete a long rest or adventure rest, your burnout die is fully restored to a d12. * Spells such as *Lesser Restoration* can increment your Burnout die a number of times equal to the spell level -1. ## Recovering from Burnout - PF2e Once a burnout die is decremented, it remains that size until you take a recovery action. There are three primary means of recovering from burnout: * You can spend a Focus point to increment your Burnout Die. Once you increment your die this way, you can't do so again in this way until you complete a rest. * Once you complete a rest, your burnout die is fully restored to a d12. * Spells such as *Lesser Restoration* can increment your Burnout die a number of times equal to the spell level -1. ## Safe Magic Burnout only applies to raw and impromptu spellcasting where your character is actively channeling and shaping magical energies. Not all magical abilities put such great strain on your body and the weave—this safe magic does not trigger burnout roll when used. **Class Features:** Effects gained through certain class features—such as Channel Divinity and Lay on Hands —do not count as spells, so you don’t roll for burnout. **Racial Features:** If you are casting a spell gained through a racial ability—such as the tiefling’s Infernal Legacy— you don’t roll for burnout. These innate powers are unaffected by the wild fluctuations of raw magic. **Magic Items:** A magic item channels its own energies, putting little strain on the user—so you don’t roll for burnout for spells cast with magic item. **Rituals:** A ritual helps control the flow of magical energy with complicated sigils and glyphs—so you don’t roll for burnout when casting a spell as a ritual. **Cantrips:** Cantrips use a small enough amount of magic that they do not trigger a burnout roll.