25 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
25 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
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Previous Section: [[06 🔵 Traps]]
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# Downtime
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Just as PCs need rest to recover between encounters, they also need time between adventures to care for themselves, pursue their interests, and work to maintain their lifestyles. This time between adventures is called Downtime and it allows characters to engage in time consuming tasks or offstage pursuits that don't warrant the in-depth attention given to adventuring.
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## Downtime Activities
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Downtime activities are typically measured in weeks. A downtime week encompasses at least 5 days where 8 hours are spent pursuing the chosen activity. Some downtime activities can be accomplished more quickly and are measured in days, but most activities require at least a full week of downtime to make significant progress.
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Once the GM has established how much downtime is available, PCs select their chosen downtime activity from the options available, pay costs listed for that activity (if any), and spend the time required to perform that activity. Once these conditions are met, the GM resolves the activity following the resolution rules listed in the activity's description.
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If a PC has more downtime available than their chosen activity requires, they can continue to pursue the same activity for a longer period or switch to a different downtime activity.
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A GM can award periods of downtime at the end of an adventure or when story objectives are met--just like they award experience or treasure.
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## Time
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Each downtime activity lists the minimum amount of downtime that must be spent to make significant progress towards that activity. Typically, activities require at least one week of downtime, but some only require one or more days.
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## Cost
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Many downtime activities require the PC to spend coin. An activity's descriptions includes any monetary costs required to pursue them.
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## Resolution
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Each downtime activity includes instructions for resolving that activity. For example, many activities require a PC to make an ability check to represent the overall success of their time spent engaged in the chosen activity.
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## Using Downtime in your Games
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You can handle downtime activities in two ways: during the game session or between game sessions.
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### During the Session
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When you use downtime activities during a session, the characters are usually in a safe environment, not actively adventuring, and outside concerns are not immediately pressing. Time flies as days and weeks are spent working on personal goals. This time can be difficult to reconcile and even undesirable for some players who feel an immediate threat or a time sensitive concern. In addition to the attention paid to time spent, downtime activities can take some actual playtime to fully run their course. One way you can manage this is by calling for initiative and having everyone enter in a turn order. As you take turns in this way, each turn comprises a single week rather than the 6 seconds of a standard combat encounter.
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### Between Sessions
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You can use downtime activities to keep your players engaged in the game even if they miss sessions or sessions are less frequent than the group might like. Most downtime activities require minimal effort to narrate and play out and instead employ bookkeeping and dice calculations to complete. It is fair for GMs to require players to use a dice rolling application or some other means of honest reporting of dice results to maintain fairness. Using downtime activities in this way can keep everyone interested and helps create a living campaign.
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# Next Section
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[[02 🟡 Carousing]]
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