The DM's prompt now says how many turns have passed since its last mark, once the clock has been sitting still, so the clock stays current. A successful mark resets the count, and the turn that moves the clock does not count against itself. Player agency gets stated plainly: the DM may flourish a shorthand direction, keeps quoted words verbatim, and offers no opinion about what the player should do unless asked. The SRD prompt calls for an ability check only when both outcomes matter. The roadmap adds four future notes and folds the rhythm tuning into the storytelling voice phase.