Downtime

[Mjolnirbear]

So my DM is new, and as *that* guy he looks to me for rules questions. But one thing i could never figure out: how much downtime should he give out?

There are no guidelines. Anywhere that i can find. In fact the only guideline i can give is that downtime has thr living expenses costs so if we want more downtime (to train a language for instance) we will need to pay the living costs.

And there seems little point to practicing a profession. Hmmm, i could do sacred rites, or build a keep, or carouse and fall in love, or i could...spend downtime to cover costs spent during downtime, wasting my valuable downtime. Unless you're a performer and life in a comfortable lifestyle and save the rest.

Are there any suggestions i can give him? I was tentatively thinking one day per long rest, but that seems...not quite right.

[Mith]

It depends on how close together he wants to run various adventures, I would think. If he wants to have the next adventure follow soon after the previous one, he will likely not give more then a few days of downtime. This allows for you to replenish your resources, make plans, and then head out. If you have a Performer, they can make a little bit of money if they so choose, but it's not long enough time to bite deeply into the PCs pockets.

[JoeJ]

The amount of downtime is extremely dependent on the specific campaign. It could be a day between adventures, or it could be several years (although it's usually not either of those extremes). I usually base it on what the PCs want to do, and what else is going on in the campaign. So if the BBEG needs to spend six weeks researching some eldritch summoning ritual, it's perfectly fine to let six weeks of downtime go by, unless the PCs decide on their own to initiate some sort of adventure (and if they do, ask the players how much time has passed).

If you want a more dynamic world, then have less downtime. If the region is in the midst of a war, for example, maybe you could roll 2d6 for the number of days before something happens that the PCs need to respond to.

[Ninja_Prawn]

It really depends. You might say: "we didn't come here to get pretend drunk and/or learn new languages; we came here to play D&D!"

Or you might say: "our characters have just been through a gruesome, harrowing trial. They've been seriously injured and they need time to recover. Setting out on another adventure tomorrow just wouldn't feel right."

You might even say: "I've been looking forward to building my castle... and we know that the villain is planning something for the festival next month. Why don't we take a few weeks off so I can hire an architect and set them to work, then meet up again when Dastardly McEvilbeard's plans have become a bit clearer?"

So it's something that you need to decide based on the wishes of the people at the table.

[Bupp]

I recently gave out a year of downtime.

The characters had just defeated a major cell of an evil cult. The cult was the main opponent for the game, and the cult used the time to pull back and regroup.

The thief spent the time training the owlbear hatchling that she recovered.

The cleric spent the time proselytizing his faith in the area and setting the groundwork for a new shrine.

The fighter learned a tool proficiency and then spend time practicing the trade.

The wizard used his alchemy proficiency to craft items to put in the party stock. (Vials of acid and other fun stuff).

The druid and ranger spent the time in the woods.

[mephnick]

I'd love to use downtime more, but my games generally involve almost constant adventuring, even if taken over a long period of time. Players like to chase down side plots too much I suppose.

Once the "main arc" is completed, people generally want to try out new characters and builds, so downtime never really becomes a factor.

[Coidzor]

Well, if no one wants to spend time training, then you don't have to decide how many blocks of downtime the DM wants to give out before he's had you have 8 and 1/3 months worth of downtime for someone to have learned a new set of tools or language.

[snacksmoto]

I'm part of a group of effectively new players and new DMs so this might be of a different perspective. Our outlook is a lot more of a fast-and-loose style since we're not pushing hard on a campaign while some players are able to play more frequently.

We are, generally, matching the character's downtime to the downtime between gaming sessions especially while playing one-offs. If we go a week between sessions, the characters have a week of downtime.

As for the infrequent players, there hasn't been any final decision. I'm going to guess that it will end up being a small number of sequential downtime rolls (probably three or four), some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey off-stage hand-waving stuff, and *POOF* they're now, at most, a level behind the main group and ready for adventure.

If that doesn't work for your campaign, then ask your DM what works for your campaign's narrative. Does it make sense that the characters take two weeks downtime while the Big Bad rampages across the countryside? Will your DM allow said downtime and your characters will have to deal with the consequences and possibly fail the campaign?

Basically, I think the question can be answered if you answer a question along the lines of: Are we playing fast-and-loose or are we playing narrative?