Down Time
When you spend downtime days you need to pay for your character's lifestyle. During session you don't unless the DM says you must. Between sessions characters are given 2d4+8 days of down time to spend however they wish and these days can be stored. You receive 30 downtime days on the first day of each month for each of your characters or when you create them. If not used before the first day of the next month they are lost. When creating a character above level 1 you also receive level * 5 days when you create the character. This should not be abused. On average a character should/could be able to make between 15gp and 50gp per day. Any more than this and you may wish to tone it down before staff has reason to tone it down for you.
Your character only receives the benefit of the completed project once it is completed. In some instances you may jump between various projects at a dungeon master's discretion, working on more than one. For some of the down time below you will require a dungeon master. For the rest you will be your own dungeon master. You can come up with your own non-player characters and locations. We do recommend you do some research and try to fit it into the setting. If you have questions you can always ask a dungeon master for help. Do not intentionally abuse the below systems. A workweek is 5 days. Announce your rolls before you make them!
Your character only receives the benefit of the completed project once it is completed. In some instances you may jump between various projects at a dungeon master's discretion, working on more than one. For some of the down time below you will require a dungeon master. For the rest you will be your own dungeon master. You can come up with your own non-player characters and locations. We do recommend you do some research and try to fit it into the setting. If you have questions you can always ask a dungeon master for help. Do not intentionally abuse the below systems. A workweek is 5 days. Announce your rolls before you make them!
Note: If a character gives another character an item for the benefit of use during downtime the character giving the item must expend the same number of downtime days as the receiving character before the item can be returned. The character who gave the item can expend the downtime days on other projects but the item is not returned to them until they do so. This also means they do not posses the item on adventure until the downtime is expended. The downtime needed to be expended must be noted and tracked by the character giving the item. At the end, when the item is returned, both characters should be in agreement as to how much time has passed. Players should not attempt to game the system.
What must I do on my downtime? What are some rules?
- You have living expenses. You should probably account for them. You get penalties for some types of living and bonuses for others.
- Downtime is like currency sorta. Just be reasonable with it. Each character gains 30 days of downtime on the first of every month but you must spend it before the month ends. These are not added to your stored downtime. You should track them separately. Downtime you collect after a session can be stored or spent as you see fit.
- You can utilize any spell, magic item, or feature to mechanically benefit your downtime activities within reason. The general rule of thumb is that the thing you are using to benefit your rolls must be usable for more than half the downtime expended on the activity. This means that you must be able to maintain the benefit for more than 4 hours a day for as many days as you are performing the activity. Staff does have the final say in such things and if something seems too powerful then it likely is.
- For any downtime activity involving a skill check you may spend up to three allied contacts like currency to receive a bonus to one roll. If you have hostile contacts you must spend at least one. A rival is a hostile contact that can not be spent and remains until resolved. Allied contacts can be gained through the Carousing downtime. Benefactors are like positive rivals but typically only help with one type of downtime activity.
What may I do on my downtime?
- You can go gambling and strike it rich! Just know when to walk away and no when to run. You have a bet limit of 500gp. (XGE pg.130)
- You could go pit fighting in the fight club. Remember we don't talk about fight club. (XGE pg.131)
- You can go to a religious service. Meditation is good for the soul. (XGE pg.131)
- You can do some research to uncover some information. Beware of existential crisis. (XGE pg.132/DM Required - Someone needs to come up with what you found out.)
- You can scribe a scroll or put a new spell in your spell book if you are a wizard. You must be able to cast at least one spell and you must be proficient in Arcana. You may also be able to craft a masterwork scroll though you also need to be proficient with calligrapher's supplies. (XGE pg.133)
- You can create a magical tattoo though you will look like a thug if you get one on your face. You must be able to cast at least one spell and you must be proficient in Arcana and proficient with Tattooist's Tools. For all other purposes such an activity is similar to crafting a spell scroll. You must know the spell you are attempting to tattoo. You must have the components and those components are expended when you create the tattoo. A single body can hold up to five levels of spells or based on rarity. The person who has the tattoo need not be able to cast the spell to use the tattoo. To cast a spell from a tattoo you must have a free hand if the spell requires a free hand or if the spell has a somatic component. No spell tattoos require all the above proficiency and have all the above restrictions but follow standard magic item creation rules. (HB/TCE pg.118/XGE)
- You could sell the magic short sword that sings show tunes that you picked up in that dungeon last week. Keep in mind that you may find extreme difficulty in selling very valuable items as most just won't have the money to buy such. Dungeon masters should be aware of this as well. The base prices and variance for the final prices for magic items are located here on the Magic Offer Table but it is otherwise run as is dictated in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. (XGE pg.133/DM Required)
- You could get a job. Every tavern needs another serving wench. What? What do you mean you're a guy? Does that matter? This can be any job you can think of that could get you a wage. It could be hunting, gathering, fishing, or anything else that can net you a wage. That subtle fishing joke is free. I won't charge. Change Note: You can use any applicable skill check for this downtime activity. It must pertain to something that could make you money and the job you intent to do. (XGE pg.134) Alternately you can choose to make money using a tool in which you are proficient with to perform some task determined by you. This could be any tool as defined on the masterwork tool list either standard or extended. You gain 5 gold per day per your skill level of the tool. [Example: A novice would gain a base 5 gp per day. A master would gain a base 25 gp per day.] You'd need to expend your downtime in work week blocks just like the standard work downtime but you'd also gain the benefit of high rolls for wages. Same as the normal downtime.
- You could train in a skill, with an artisan tool, or learn a language. If learning from another player character you need not spend gold but both player characters spend down time. You can only learn one language at a time. You can only teach one language at a time. You can both teach and learn a language at the same time. (XGE pg.134)
- You could create a completely new spell if you're into that kind of thing. Here is how you do it. If the character owns a tower stronghold the below costs in time and gold are reduced by 10% per level of the stronghold up to 40% at level 4. You of course must have the ability to cast spells and be proficient with the skill, Arcana. (HB/SaF/DM Required)
- You can build a stronghold and manage it. You must be tier 3 or at least 10th level to start construction on your stronghold. It must be approved by a DM. There may be negative ramifications for building a stronghold. See the source changes in the source library. You may only have two active strongholds. You can not benefit from a stronghold that is not active in anyway and you must take an extended rest, spending a weeks of downtime to switch your active stronghold(s). (SaF/KaW/DM Required)
- You can build a home. Before or after tier 3 you may spend 2,500 gp and 6 workweeks to build a cottage, house, small villa, dungeon complex, or den of absolute evil. This home can be any dimension that occupies up to 2,500 square feet. It can have either one or two floors above ground. It may also have a basement or be completely under ground if you so desire. It can be divided into as many rooms as is desired. It does not provide any mechanical benefit to the character besides being a place to rest and store your items. This initial investment can be rolled into stronghold construction if and when you wish to undertake that project. (HB)
- You can create or commission masterwork equipment if you discover a crafts-person in session. Doing so is extremely costly and time consuming. (HB/DM Required)
- You can sell a found or made masterwork item(s) for the item's base cost times five. Masterwork potions, scrolls, and tattoos sell as if they were a standard version of the item. You should be ashamed!
- You can train in the use of one weapon with which you are not proficient. You may only do this one time in your character's life. This is treated as artisan tool for determining how long the training will take. If learning from another player character you need not spend gold but both player characters spend down time. There are some things that can be learned as a group and some things that can not at DM discretion. (HB/XGE pg.134)
- You can relax and chill. All work and no play make you a dull, dull boy or girl. Do this for five days and its considered an extended rest for the purposes of a stronghold. For the most part an extended rest is spent at your stronghold or your home, touching base with your/the subjects, followers, friends, and attending to your affairs. (PHB/SaF)
- All these guards look up to you adventurer. They use to be just like you until they took an arrow to all their knees. You can gain renown or help someone else gain renown. Typically, this is best done in session as a result of your character's heroic actions. Doing so through such things as persuasion is far slower than performing great deeds. Actions are after-all worth a thousand words, but you can gain some renown. (DMG/DM Required)
- You can get spell casting services. This may require downtime days at the discretion of a DM. You'd likely have to go to a major city to find anyone able to cast spells over level three. Finding someone that can cast level eight or nine spells is nearly impossible and the cost of such is doubled and tripled respectively. The equation of cost is the following: (Spell Level)2×10+(Consumed Materials×2)+(Non-consumed Materials×0.1) (Adventurer's League/HB)
- You can search for materials. No need to search for materials at or below the uncommon tier. You cannot find legendary or artifact tier material. The DC to find such materials are the same as looking for CR Material components located in the chart below. The increments of time are reduced to days instead of workweeks and the money is spent in increments of 25gp. Though the other rules are similar to finding a magic item. If you succeed you find 1d4+4 coins worth of weight of said material.
- You can search for components to craft a magic item. The increments of time are reduced to days instead of workweeks and the money is spent in increments of 25gp. Though the other rules are similar to finding a magic item. You can find up to five ingredients per search, performing one skill-check.
Contact Type |
Bonus/Penalty |
Details |
Lower-class Contact Allied contacts are friends who will render aid to the character, but not at the risk of their lives. Cost to find: 10gp/Workweek |
+1 You may spend an allied contact on any single skill check involving downtime. |
Lower-class contacts include criminals, laborers, mercenaries, the town guard, and any other folk who normally frequent the cheapest taverns in town. This contact is spent like currency and may be awarded by a dungeon master as part of a session or gained as part of this downtime activity. |
Middle-class Contact Allied contacts are friends who will render aid to the character, but not at the risk of their lives. Cost to find: 50gp/Workweek |
+2 You may spend an allied contact on any single skill check involving downtime. |
Middle-class contacts include guild members, spellcasters, town officials, and other folk who frequent well-kept establishments. This contact is spent like currency and may be awarded by a dungeon master as part of a session or gained as part of this downtime activity. |
Upper-class Contact Allied contacts are friends who will render aid to the character, but not at the risk of their lives. Cost to find: 250gp/Workweek |
+3 You may spend an allied contact on any single skill check involving downtime. |
Upper-class contacts are nobles and their personal servants. Carousing with such folk covers formal banquets, state dinners, and the like. This contact is spent like currency and may be awarded by a dungeon master as part of a session or gained as part of this downtime activity. You must have a background, feat, feature, contact, or item that allows you to carouse with the upper-class. If you don't have one of these things you may also attempt a DC 25 skill check utilizing a disguise kit. If you fail this check you lose your time investment but not your money. |
Hostile Contact A hostile contact works against the character, placing obstacles but stopping short of committing a crime or a violent act. |
-1 If you have a hostile contact you must spend at least one on every single skill check involving downtime until you have none remaining. |
A hostile contact can be from any class of society from lower to upper-class but the negative modifier does not change. May be awarded by a dungeon master as part of a session or gained as a downtime complication or part of this downtime activity. |
Rival A rival works against the character, placing obstacles and may commit a crime or violent act if they are likely to get away with it. |
-1 or other detriments. If you have a rival you receive this penalty on all skill checks involving downtime until it is resolved. |
A rival is personalized for the character whom they are a rival for. If awarded during a game a rival is created by the dungeon master. If awarded as a result of downtime the player is granted limited power to create their character's rival. |
Benefactor A benefactor is a long term ally, often indebted to the character who will render aid to the character, but not at the risk of their lives. |
+1 or other benefits. If you have a benefactor they can aid you with all skill checks involving a particular downtime activity. |
A benefactor is personalized for the character whom they are a benefactor for. A benefactor is created by the dungeon master and is awarded by a dungeon master as a session reward. |
- A character has a maximum number of rivals equal to their proficiency bonus.
- A character has a maximum number of benefactors equal to their proficiency bonus.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle expenses provide you with a simple way to account for the cost of living in a fantasy world. They cover your accommodations, food and drink, and all your other necessities. Furthermore, expenses cover the cost of maintaining your Equipment so you can be ready when adventure next calls.
Expenses
|
At the start of your downtime, choose a lifestyle from the Expenses table and pay the price to sustain that lifestyle. The prices listed are per day, so if you wish to calculate the cost of your chosen lifestyle over a thirty-‐‑day period, multiply the listed price by 30. Your lifestyle might change from one period to the next, based on the funds you have at your disposal, or you might maintain the same lifestyle throughout your character’s career.
Your lifestyle choice can have consequences. Maintaining a wealthy lifestyle might help you make contacts with the rich and powerful, though you run the risk of attracting thieves. Likewise, living frugally might help you avoid criminals, but you are unlikely to make powerful connections. You must pay the same living expenses during the entire downtime activity you are performing. |
Wretched. You live in inhumane conditions. With no place to call home, you shelter wherever you can, sneaking into barns, huddling in old crates, and relying on the good graces of people better off than you. A wretched lifestyle presents abundant dangers. Violence, disease, and hunger follow you wherever you go. Other wretched people covet your armor, weapons, and adventuring gear, which represent a fortune by their standards. You are beneath the notice of most people.
Squalid. You live in a leaky stable, a mud-floored hut just outside town, or a vermin-infested boarding house in the worst part of town. You have shelter from the elements, but you live in a desperate and often violent environment, in places rife with disease, hunger, and misfortune. You are beneath the notice of most people, and you have few legal protections. Most people at this lifestyle level have suffered some terrible setback. They might be disturbed, marked as exiles, or suffer from disease.
Poor. A poor lifestyle means going without the comforts available in a stable community. Simple food and lodgings, threadbare clothing, and unpredictable conditions result in a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. Your accommodations might be a room in a flophouse or in the common room above a tavern. You benefit from some legal protections, but you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers, costermongers, peddlers, thieves, mercenaries, and other disreputable types.
Modest. A modest lifestyle keeps you out of the slums and ensures that you can maintain your equipment. You live in an older part of town, renting a room in a boarding house, inn, or temple. You don’t go hungry or thirsty, and your living cconditions are clean, if simple. Ordinary people living modest lifestyles include soldiers with families, laborers, students, priests, hedge wizards, and the like.
Comfortable. Choosing a comfortable lifestyle means that you can afford nicer clothing and can easily maintain your equipment. You live in a small cottage in a middle-‐‑class neighborhood or in a private room at a fine inn. You associate with merchants, skilled tradespeople, and military officers.
Wealthy. Choosing a wealthy lifestyle means living a life of luxury, though you might not have achieved the social status associated with the old money of nobility or royalty. You live a lifestyle comparable to that of a highly successful merchant, a favored servant of the royalty, or the owner of a few small businesses. You have respectable lodgings, usually a spacious home in a good part of town or a comfortable suite at a fine inn. You likely have a small staff of servants.
Aristocratic. You live a life of plenty and comfort. You move in circles populated by the most powerful people in the community. You have excellent lodgings, perhaps a townhouse in the nicest part of town or rooms in the finest inn. You dine at the best restaurants, retain the most skilled and fashionable tailor, and have servants attending to your every need. You receive invitations to the social gatherings of the rich and powerful, and spend evenings in the company of politicians, guild leaders, high priests, and nobility. You must also contend with the highest levels of deceit and treachery. The wealthier you are, the greater the chance you will be drawn into political intrigue as a pawn or participant.
Self-Sufficiency. The expenses and lifestyles described here assume that you are spending your time between adventures in town, availing yourself of whatever services you can afford—paying for food and shelter, paying townspeople to sharpen your sword and repair your armor, and so on. Some characters, though, might prefer to spend their time away from civilization, sustaining themselves in the wild by hunting, foraging, and repairing their own gear. Maintaining this kind of lifestyle doesn’t require you to spend any coin, but it is time-‐consuming. If you spend your time between adventures practicing a profession, you can eke out the equivalent of a poor lifestyle. Proficiency in the survival skill lets you live at the equivalent of a comfortable lifestyle.
Squalid. You live in a leaky stable, a mud-floored hut just outside town, or a vermin-infested boarding house in the worst part of town. You have shelter from the elements, but you live in a desperate and often violent environment, in places rife with disease, hunger, and misfortune. You are beneath the notice of most people, and you have few legal protections. Most people at this lifestyle level have suffered some terrible setback. They might be disturbed, marked as exiles, or suffer from disease.
Poor. A poor lifestyle means going without the comforts available in a stable community. Simple food and lodgings, threadbare clothing, and unpredictable conditions result in a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. Your accommodations might be a room in a flophouse or in the common room above a tavern. You benefit from some legal protections, but you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers, costermongers, peddlers, thieves, mercenaries, and other disreputable types.
Modest. A modest lifestyle keeps you out of the slums and ensures that you can maintain your equipment. You live in an older part of town, renting a room in a boarding house, inn, or temple. You don’t go hungry or thirsty, and your living cconditions are clean, if simple. Ordinary people living modest lifestyles include soldiers with families, laborers, students, priests, hedge wizards, and the like.
Comfortable. Choosing a comfortable lifestyle means that you can afford nicer clothing and can easily maintain your equipment. You live in a small cottage in a middle-‐‑class neighborhood or in a private room at a fine inn. You associate with merchants, skilled tradespeople, and military officers.
Wealthy. Choosing a wealthy lifestyle means living a life of luxury, though you might not have achieved the social status associated with the old money of nobility or royalty. You live a lifestyle comparable to that of a highly successful merchant, a favored servant of the royalty, or the owner of a few small businesses. You have respectable lodgings, usually a spacious home in a good part of town or a comfortable suite at a fine inn. You likely have a small staff of servants.
Aristocratic. You live a life of plenty and comfort. You move in circles populated by the most powerful people in the community. You have excellent lodgings, perhaps a townhouse in the nicest part of town or rooms in the finest inn. You dine at the best restaurants, retain the most skilled and fashionable tailor, and have servants attending to your every need. You receive invitations to the social gatherings of the rich and powerful, and spend evenings in the company of politicians, guild leaders, high priests, and nobility. You must also contend with the highest levels of deceit and treachery. The wealthier you are, the greater the chance you will be drawn into political intrigue as a pawn or participant.
Self-Sufficiency. The expenses and lifestyles described here assume that you are spending your time between adventures in town, availing yourself of whatever services you can afford—paying for food and shelter, paying townspeople to sharpen your sword and repair your armor, and so on. Some characters, though, might prefer to spend their time away from civilization, sustaining themselves in the wild by hunting, foraging, and repairing their own gear. Maintaining this kind of lifestyle doesn’t require you to spend any coin, but it is time-‐consuming. If you spend your time between adventures practicing a profession, you can eke out the equivalent of a poor lifestyle. Proficiency in the survival skill lets you live at the equivalent of a comfortable lifestyle.
Personal DOWNTIME ACTIVITIES (XGE)
Source: Xanathar's Guide to Everything (pg.125 - pg. 134)
Downtime Activities. These are tasks that usually take a workweek (5 days) or longer to perform. These tasks can include buying or creating magic items, pulling off crimes, and working at a job. A character selects a downtime activity from among those available and pays the cost of that activity in time and money.
Resolving Activities. The description of each activity tells you how to resolve it. Many activities require an ability check, so be sure to note the character's relevant ability modifiers. Follow the steps in the activity, and determine the results.
Most downtime activities require a workweek (5 days) to complete. Some activities require days, weeks (10 days), or months (30 days). A character must spend at least 8 hours of each day engaged in the downtime activity for that day to count toward the activity's completion.
The days of an activity don't need to be consecutive; you can spread them over a longer period of time than is required for the activity. But that period of time should be no more than twice as long as the required time; otherwise you should introduce extra complications (see below) and possibly double the activity's costs to represent the inefficiency of the character's progress.
Most downtime activities require a workweek (5 days) to complete. Some activities require days, weeks (10 days), or months (30 days). A character must spend at least 8 hours of each day engaged in the downtime activity for that day to count toward the activity's completion.
The days of an activity don't need to be consecutive; you can spread them over a longer period of time than is required for the activity. But that period of time should be no more than twice as long as the required time; otherwise you should introduce extra complications (see below) and possibly double the activity's costs to represent the inefficiency of the character's progress.
Complications. The description of each activity includes a discussion of complications you can throw at the characters. The consequences of a complication might spawn entire adventures, introduce NPCs to vex the party, or give the character headaches or advantages in any number of other ways.
Each of these sections has a table that offers possible complications. You can roll to determine a complication randomly, pick one from the table, or devise one of your own, and then share what transpired to your character with your companions on his/her next adventure.
Each of these sections has a table that offers possible complications. You can roll to determine a complication randomly, pick one from the table, or devise one of your own, and then share what transpired to your character with your companions on his/her next adventure.