Reduction in Force

3rd-level Finance & Cost-Cutting

Casting Time: 1 action (must be preceded by 1 emergency calendar hold titled “Important Company Update”)
Range/Area: Company-wide; effect fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point of the caster’s choosing on the org chart (typically a department, team, or cost center)
Components: V, S, M (a spreadsheet with a column of names highlighted red, consumed in the casting; also consumes an amount of political capital equal to the caster’s remaining board goodwill)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: CFO, VP of Finance, Board

A bright memo streaks from the caster’s inbox to the point you choose, then expands with a flat, affectless whoosh of calendar invites. Each employee in the area of effect must make a Tenure saving throw, with disadvantage if the creature is Documented (see Performance Review). On a failed save, a creature is dismissed effective end of day, loses access to all company systems, and takes severance damage equal to 8d6 (halved, rounded to the nearest pay period). On a successful save, a creature instead takes half as much damage and is redeployed to a different team, a reduced role, or a manager’s direct reports, at the caster’s discretion. The spell does not require line of sight to a target’s individual output, and damage is not affected by cover, position, or performance rating.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the radius of the sphere increases by 20 feet (one additional department) for each slot level above 3rd, and the resulting quarterly earnings call automatically succeeds — the caster’s organization gains temporary stock price equal to 1d4 percent, lasting until the next earnings call or until credibly contradicted, whichever comes first. This bonus does not extend to the morale of creatures who succeeded their saving throw, which takes a permanent and unrecoverable penalty.

Flavor: “We need to make some really hard decisions today to ensure the long-term health of the business. This was not easy, and I want you to know we did not take it lightly.” — all-hands recording, timestamp 9:03am, viewed 4 times before being taken down