These days my own campaigns run more like an action movie; the characters are under threat from session 1, and usually working to stop something happening or achieving a goal. They've made it to level 8 with maybe 1 or 2 days of downtime total, and the total time to get from level 1 to level 8 (playing weekly or bi-weekly 5 hour games since the start of January) has taken about 4 weeks of in-game time. The pace won't slow, and because they're focused on saving the world, there is unlikely to be any real downtime until they finish the story arc around level 10 or 11.
In a different campaign, I've had a Cleric who took over a cathedral and a fighter who had their own fortress. Whole sessions were spent on cleaning them up, garrisoning or hiring NPCs, resolving local issues and so on.
I would certainly not class downtime as 'just as important' as other parts of the game, but there is certainly a place for allowing the PCs to become more deeply entrenched in the world if the style of game allows for it.
I allow downtime when the party is in a fair size city since a lot of their wants will require resources or training not, or very limited, found in a small to fair size village.
I do everything in session, I might give my players a heads up that there is downtime coming up and to think about what they want to do, but we run it all in session. I have had downtime in the past take just 30 mins at the start of a session as players do very simple things, and I have had downtime take 2-3 entire sessions as characters do various things in and around town. My players appreciate the change of pace, and the ability to do things like read up on the BBEG in the library, or make a magic item or potion. I usually also have NPC interactions in these sessions add to the narrative.
For me, there's no 'per session rule' unless its Adventure League. It depends on what happens at the end of that session...it could be an hour, could be a month, could be the entire winter if that makes sense. I personally love downtime and think its under-used for the most part. Crafting and spell scribing is often the go-to activity for downtime, but there's so many character development options. There's a downtime factions mechanic that's in this Zhentarim pub that I really enjoy, and a similar system shows up in these two pubs on the 5 factions (PWYW) and 3 factions of Waterdeep. I like it as its a player-managed approach to building renown without having to put that burden on the DM when there's a party that has every member in a different faction.
I do everything in session, I might give my players a heads up that there is downtime coming up and to think about what they want to do, but we run it all in session. I have had downtime in the past take just 30 mins at the start of a session as players do very simple things, and I have had downtime take 2-3 entire sessions as characters do various things in and around town.
Yeah, I try to do downtime between sessions, in DM/Player mini sessions (vi Text or IM) this allows the game to keep moving along in the primary game and not keep people waiting around on others to finish up their tasks.
If my players want to spend more than four weeks of their character's life as down time, I'm doing something wrong and I'll have to ask them what it is.
If my players want to spend more than four weeks of their character's life as down time, I'm doing something wrong and I'll have to ask them what it is.
so no training (languages or tool proficiencies) and no highlevel spell scribing in your world, or it just happens?
If my players want to spend more than four weeks of their character's life as down time, I'm doing something wrong and I'll have to ask them what it is.
so no training (languages or tool proficiencies) and no highlevel spell scribing in your world, or it just happens?
There's no reason that players should expect to undergo training in a campaign - they're already picking up plenty of non-downtime training by advancing levels in their chosen class(es).
There's no reason that players should expect to undergo training in a campaign - they're already picking up plenty of non-downtime training by advancing levels in their chosen class(es).
well, other than its in the sourcebooks and if that's how they want to develop their character, that's how they want to develop their character. I've had characters want to learn sylvan, craft their own armor, hole up for the winter, build their own ship, all kinds of reasons they wanted downtime. A black and white 'F-no not at my table' is kind of odd response, especially when you're talking about character development that doesn't really cost the DM his/her time.
Edit: To the extreme, I've even had a group of IRL 13 year olds want to spend 2 years of downtime building a dairy farm so they could establish themselves as regional Milk Barrons before they continued on their adventure and left some hired hands to manage the ranch, which I was totally fine with.
While I can't really understand what the appeal is in learning languages or tool proficiencies as part of a system that says "You spend X days and Y gold doing this, and then you can add it to your character sheet," they do exist in the core rules as things for characters to do, and not all campaigns are for everyone.
My campaigns tend to be heart-pounding, constant danger, time-sensitive missions to save the world, starting at level 1. But that style of gameplay isn't for everyone. My current players aren't interested in romances, setting up businesses, or settling down in the world but I've had players before who have. However, I guess that when I have run 'downtime' stuff, generally it turns into a series of sub-quests. If you're taking over that wizard tower as a base, there's going to be a demon trapped in the basement that needs banishing, the ghost of a former owner will haunt it, the peasants will refuse to pay their tithes and so on.
The things that I really do understand players wanting to do is set up a home base for their character - essentially they get to play DM a little as they choose colour schemes, set magical wards and traps, recruit NPCs as hirelings etc. - and creating magical items or researching new spells. Downtime is an opportunity for the players to let their characters imprint into the lore of the world and the setting. It gives them a footing, so they aren't permanently having to sleep at the inn.
In terms of things like training for feats and other combat usable abilities, that's a strict no-no.
Ask yourself this. If one of your players told you that they were too busy to play, if they had a good reason, what would you do with their character? I'm looking to set a fairly fast pace, I'm interested in heroic actions and fantastic adventures. That is after all, what D&D does best, it's a heroic fantasy game. I'm not going to play their character for them, I'm not going to let anyone else play them, since they might not like the results. I hope the player will come back, but life doesn't always allow for that.
Xanathar's gives rules for training and downtime. I generally don't use them. They take weeks, they cost a huge amount, and that's not what I'm looking for.
If my players want to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If they want to spend more than a month doing it, there's something wrong. It's probably that they don't like my play style. Take note: "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." 60 gold a month lets them rent that small cottage. If the player characters need more than that?
Ask yourself this. If one of your players told you that they were too busy to play, if they had a good reason, what would you do with their character? I'm looking to set a fairly fast pace, I'm interested in heroic actions and fantastic adventures. That is after all, what D&D does best, it's a heroic fantasy game. I'm not going to play their character for them, I'm not going to let anyone else play them, since they might not like the results. I hope the player will come back, but life doesn't always allow for that.
Xanathar's gives rules for training and downtime. I generally don't use them. They take weeks, they cost a huge amount, and that's not what I'm looking for.
If my players want to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If they want to spend more than a month doing it, there's something wrong. It's probably that they don't like my play style. Take note: "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." 60 gold a month lets them rent that small cottage. If the player characters need more than that?
When you DM, you get to decide for yourself.
Hold up, 4 weeks of downtime can happen between this Wednesday’s session and next Wednesday’s session. Why in goodness’ name would the Characters taking a month’s vacation affect the players’ schedules at all?!?
I always like the idea of downtime. To me, it could be time, besides learning skills and such, to allow for character building. Like you can say the barbarian and the rogue spent the past week hanging out, and now they're really good friends. Or the bard made a new contact in town they can go to for help if things go sideways. Allowing players to describe what they do with their downtime can be a great way to flesh out a character's personality. RP'ing that sort of thing in session is usually preferable, but doing it in downtime can help reinforce what happens in game, allow for some extra time to let things happen off camera, and can be very helpful for players who aren't comfortable or good at role play.
Unfortunately, most campaigns I've run or played in rarely have much downtime, because there always seems to be a ticking clock. That BBEG is about to destroy the world by the next full moon, and the MacGuffin won't find itself, so the PCs can't just spend a week carousing.
Hm... I probably left out the word "character" in there too many times and just kept saying "player". I know it's funny when people do that.
If my players want their characters to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If the players want their characters to spend more than a month of downtime on it in the game, there is something wrong. It's probably that the players don't like my play style. Take note: "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." 60 gold a month lets the player characters rent that small cottage. If the player characters need more than that?
When you DM, you get to decide for yourself.
I talked about behavior of players in the real world. I said if they had a good reason to miss a month, what I would do about it and why. I didn't say so, but if they had a good reason, that would be ok with me, they could start playing their character again and I'd figure out what the character was doing while the player was gone. If the player doesn't have a good reason, and the player comes back, then I will ask the player what the problem was, and figure out if I think it was reasonable. If not, then they have no respect for me, or one of my players, and we're going to talk about that.
I give my pcs downtime where appropriate in the plot and timeline. Some games will hand stakes that are too high and on a timer, which won't give you much downtime. The further into my games you get, the less likely you'll be to set downtime, but I try to give some earlier on in the campaign so that can do things like trading or making a bit of early game money.
My favorite way of doing downtime, as an online only DM, is by having a separate text channel on my discord server for chatplay - minor rp that happens between sessions. Most won't require my input, it's mostly for the pcs to get to rp together even more, but I keep up with it and provide what's needed as necessary.
This is a great way to do shopping and have long rp conversations while resting. Any time my sessions end on a short or long rest, or at a point where they'll have downtime, I encourage them to use chatplay.
Hm... I probably left out the word "character" in there too many times and just kept saying "player". I know it's funny when people do that.
If my players want their characters to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If the players want their characters to spend more than a month of downtime on it in the game, there is something wrong. It's probably that the players don't like my play style. Take note: "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." 60 gold a month lets the player characters rent that small cottage. If the player characters need more than that?
When you DM, you get to decide for yourself.
I talked about behavior of players in the real world. I said if they had a good reason to miss a month, what I would do about it and why. I didn't say so, but if they had a good reason, that would be ok with me, they could start playing their character again and I'd figure out what the character was doing while the player was gone. If the player doesn't have a good reason, and the player comes back, then I will ask the player what the problem was, and figure out if I think it was reasonable. If not, then they have no respect for me, or one of my players, and we're going to talk about that.
Clear enough?
Okay, lemme also rephrase:
What the heck does player schedules have to do with downtime?
Why do you associate a PC’s nesting instinct or desire for R&R with how a player feels about your campaign style?
Point one. Nothing. I was trying to illustrate my point, and I can't seem to express it clearly.
Point two. If my players wish to spend more than a month of downtime in the game, no matter how much real time this requires, it means something is wrong with my game. I tell them in advance about these things. So if they aren't interested enough in the story we are trying to tell that they need a more than a month worth of downtime in the story playing with setting up their home, I need to know why.
If my players want their characters to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If the players want their characters to spend more than a month of downtime on it in the game, there is something wrong.
Why is that? A month in game time can pass in 5 minutes of real time. If they want to establish a stronghold or tavern or dojo or whatever, it is going to take time in the game. What has that got to do with how your players feel about your campaign? If they want to establish businesses or homes it seems they're invested enough to look to the future.
For a player that can't make it to a session for a month, you just put their PC in semi-stasis or ask for rough directions. Some of my players spent a month running across a swamp and clearing a temple - that wasn't even one in-game day. If the player can't make it, they can't make. No big deal, carry on if you can.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
I hope, that when we are working together to tell a story, my players will be interested in it. I tell them "Your character gets one month worth of downtime between sessions if you wish, and no more." And they chose to take more anyway, then I have failed somehow. I want to know what the problem is.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
<Insert clever signature here>
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As both a player and a DM i consider downtime just as important as the other parts of the game.
How much downtime is enough between the sessions?
What is you opinion about the downtime?
It depends on the campaign.
These days my own campaigns run more like an action movie; the characters are under threat from session 1, and usually working to stop something happening or achieving a goal. They've made it to level 8 with maybe 1 or 2 days of downtime total, and the total time to get from level 1 to level 8 (playing weekly or bi-weekly 5 hour games since the start of January) has taken about 4 weeks of in-game time. The pace won't slow, and because they're focused on saving the world, there is unlikely to be any real downtime until they finish the story arc around level 10 or 11.
In a different campaign, I've had a Cleric who took over a cathedral and a fighter who had their own fortress. Whole sessions were spent on cleaning them up, garrisoning or hiring NPCs, resolving local issues and so on.
I would certainly not class downtime as 'just as important' as other parts of the game, but there is certainly a place for allowing the PCs to become more deeply entrenched in the world if the style of game allows for it.
I allow downtime when the party is in a fair size city since a lot of their wants will require resources or training not, or very limited, found in a small to fair size village.
I do everything in session, I might give my players a heads up that there is downtime coming up and to think about what they want to do, but we run it all in session. I have had downtime in the past take just 30 mins at the start of a session as players do very simple things, and I have had downtime take 2-3 entire sessions as characters do various things in and around town. My players appreciate the change of pace, and the ability to do things like read up on the BBEG in the library, or make a magic item or potion. I usually also have NPC interactions in these sessions add to the narrative.
For me, there's no 'per session rule' unless its Adventure League. It depends on what happens at the end of that session...it could be an hour, could be a month, could be the entire winter if that makes sense. I personally love downtime and think its under-used for the most part. Crafting and spell scribing is often the go-to activity for downtime, but there's so many character development options. There's a downtime factions mechanic that's in this Zhentarim pub that I really enjoy, and a similar system shows up in these two pubs on the 5 factions (PWYW) and 3 factions of Waterdeep. I like it as its a player-managed approach to building renown without having to put that burden on the DM when there's a party that has every member in a different faction.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Yeah, I try to do downtime between sessions, in DM/Player mini sessions (vi Text or IM) this allows the game to keep moving along in the primary game and not keep people waiting around on others to finish up their tasks.
If my players want to spend more than four weeks of their character's life as down time, I'm doing something wrong and I'll have to ask them what it is.
<Insert clever signature here>
so no training (languages or tool proficiencies) and no highlevel spell scribing in your world, or it just happens?
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
There's no reason that players should expect to undergo training in a campaign - they're already picking up plenty of non-downtime training by advancing levels in their chosen class(es).
well, other than its in the sourcebooks and if that's how they want to develop their character, that's how they want to develop their character. I've had characters want to learn sylvan, craft their own armor, hole up for the winter, build their own ship, all kinds of reasons they wanted downtime. A black and white 'F-no not at my table' is kind of odd response, especially when you're talking about character development that doesn't really cost the DM his/her time.
Edit: To the extreme, I've even had a group of IRL 13 year olds want to spend 2 years of downtime building a dairy farm so they could establish themselves as regional Milk Barrons before they continued on their adventure and left some hired hands to manage the ranch, which I was totally fine with.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
While I can't really understand what the appeal is in learning languages or tool proficiencies as part of a system that says "You spend X days and Y gold doing this, and then you can add it to your character sheet," they do exist in the core rules as things for characters to do, and not all campaigns are for everyone.
My campaigns tend to be heart-pounding, constant danger, time-sensitive missions to save the world, starting at level 1. But that style of gameplay isn't for everyone. My current players aren't interested in romances, setting up businesses, or settling down in the world but I've had players before who have. However, I guess that when I have run 'downtime' stuff, generally it turns into a series of sub-quests. If you're taking over that wizard tower as a base, there's going to be a demon trapped in the basement that needs banishing, the ghost of a former owner will haunt it, the peasants will refuse to pay their tithes and so on.
The things that I really do understand players wanting to do is set up a home base for their character - essentially they get to play DM a little as they choose colour schemes, set magical wards and traps, recruit NPCs as hirelings etc. - and creating magical items or researching new spells. Downtime is an opportunity for the players to let their characters imprint into the lore of the world and the setting. It gives them a footing, so they aren't permanently having to sleep at the inn.
In terms of things like training for feats and other combat usable abilities, that's a strict no-no.
Ask yourself this. If one of your players told you that they were too busy to play, if they had a good reason, what would you do with their character? I'm looking to set a fairly fast pace, I'm interested in heroic actions and fantastic adventures. That is after all, what D&D does best, it's a heroic fantasy game. I'm not going to play their character for them, I'm not going to let anyone else play them, since they might not like the results. I hope the player will come back, but life doesn't always allow for that.
Xanathar's gives rules for training and downtime. I generally don't use them. They take weeks, they cost a huge amount, and that's not what I'm looking for.
If my players want to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If they want to spend more than a month doing it, there's something wrong. It's probably that they don't like my play style. Take note: "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." 60 gold a month lets them rent that small cottage. If the player characters need more than that?
When you DM, you get to decide for yourself.
<Insert clever signature here>
Hold up, 4 weeks of downtime can happen between this Wednesday’s session and next Wednesday’s session. Why in goodness’ name would the Characters taking a month’s vacation affect the players’ schedules at all?!?
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I always like the idea of downtime. To me, it could be time, besides learning skills and such, to allow for character building. Like you can say the barbarian and the rogue spent the past week hanging out, and now they're really good friends. Or the bard made a new contact in town they can go to for help if things go sideways. Allowing players to describe what they do with their downtime can be a great way to flesh out a character's personality. RP'ing that sort of thing in session is usually preferable, but doing it in downtime can help reinforce what happens in game, allow for some extra time to let things happen off camera, and can be very helpful for players who aren't comfortable or good at role play.
Unfortunately, most campaigns I've run or played in rarely have much downtime, because there always seems to be a ticking clock. That BBEG is about to destroy the world by the next full moon, and the MacGuffin won't find itself, so the PCs can't just spend a week carousing.
Hm... I probably left out the word "character" in there too many times and just kept saying "player". I know it's funny when people do that.
If my players want their characters to set up a nice home for themselves, that's fine with me. If the players want their characters to spend more than a month of downtime on it in the game, there is something wrong. It's probably that the players don't like my play style. Take note: "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." 60 gold a month lets the player characters rent that small cottage. If the player characters need more than that?
When you DM, you get to decide for yourself.
I talked about behavior of players in the real world. I said if they had a good reason to miss a month, what I would do about it and why. I didn't say so, but if they had a good reason, that would be ok with me, they could start playing their character again and I'd figure out what the character was doing while the player was gone. If the player doesn't have a good reason, and the player comes back, then I will ask the player what the problem was, and figure out if I think it was reasonable. If not, then they have no respect for me, or one of my players, and we're going to talk about that.
Clear enough?
<Insert clever signature here>
I give my pcs downtime where appropriate in the plot and timeline. Some games will hand stakes that are too high and on a timer, which won't give you much downtime. The further into my games you get, the less likely you'll be to set downtime, but I try to give some earlier on in the campaign so that can do things like trading or making a bit of early game money.
My favorite way of doing downtime, as an online only DM, is by having a separate text channel on my discord server for chatplay - minor rp that happens between sessions. Most won't require my input, it's mostly for the pcs to get to rp together even more, but I keep up with it and provide what's needed as necessary.
This is a great way to do shopping and have long rp conversations while resting. Any time my sessions end on a short or long rest, or at a point where they'll have downtime, I encourage them to use chatplay.
Okay, lemme also rephrase:
🍎 ≠ 🍊
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Content Troubleshooting
Point one. Nothing. I was trying to illustrate my point, and I can't seem to express it clearly.
Point two. If my players wish to spend more than a month of downtime in the game, no matter how much real time this requires, it means something is wrong with my game. I tell them in advance about these things. So if they aren't interested enough in the story we are trying to tell that they need a more than a month worth of downtime in the story playing with setting up their home, I need to know why.
<Insert clever signature here>
Why is that? A month in game time can pass in 5 minutes of real time. If they want to establish a stronghold or tavern or dojo or whatever, it is going to take time in the game. What has that got to do with how your players feel about your campaign? If they want to establish businesses or homes it seems they're invested enough to look to the future.
For a player that can't make it to a session for a month, you just put their PC in semi-stasis or ask for rough directions. Some of my players spent a month running across a swamp and clearing a temple - that wasn't even one in-game day. If the player can't make it, they can't make. No big deal, carry on if you can.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I hope, that when we are working together to tell a story, my players will be interested in it. I tell them "Your character gets one month worth of downtime between sessions if you wish, and no more." And they chose to take more anyway, then I have failed somehow. I want to know what the problem is.
<Insert clever signature here>