Scorpienne's list pretty much covers my immediate ideas and then some, so I'll just comment on a few of the listed concepts:
- Houses, homes, castles, boats, ships, hirelings, servants, families, businesses, and building or crafting things. No in-game benefit except the ability to point to the rules and say "I have that" or "I did that". Sort of like being a noble of Gauntlegrym (from OOTA). Or slight in-game benefit like high lifestyle for free in one city like being a Zor of Mulmaster (DDAO-1 Window to the Past).
If the campaign were planning to retire adventures after a period, then I could see adapting something cool the Waterdeep folks did during LFR -- create an adventure chain with the payoff that the party is asked to help found a new organization (the Heirs of Mirt, in LFR). Other modules can allow other characters to join the organization, but there's a slight prestige factor in being able to say that your character is a founder.
Of course, if adventures don't retire, than this is not nearly as interesting, since anyone who wants to can go back and play the old adventures to 'claim' founder status. This can maybe still be salvaged by restricting the 'founder' status to only characters from certain storyline seasons (say, Tyranny of Dragons &/or Elemental Evil), as that would not only preserve the idea that 'older' characters did these things, but also provide a reason for people to continue to create characters from those older storyline seasons.
- "Stuff" like the benefits of being a Cloak from Season 2.
As long as the benefits were clearly tied to an in-game organization, and one that's separate from the existing factions, I'm OK with this. I wouldn't mind continuing to see unique faction-specific downtime activities for each new season, though.
- Contacts within and outside the factions. Just people to go to for information and a little RP inside the mods. As a bonus, this gives the DMs a tool to nudge the party on track with more information, and creates shared NPCs with wide exposure to many PCs - this gives the players a sense of connectedness. As an aside, Shadowrun Missions contacts system came up (you get points to put into contacts to determine their usefulness and loyalty). It might be worth exploring how they deal with contacts.
I'm a little leery of this sort of 'flexible contact' system, as it can both break immersion ("How did you get ahold of Horace the gate-guard from inside Ravenloft?"), and provide easy short-cuts for combat-focused PCs to take to avoid having to deal with the consequences of not having non-combat skills like Investigation and Diplomacy. Yes, this can be mitigated somewhat with advice to DMs, but most DMs are likely going to let the PC have access to a benefit that she explicitly spend an in-game resource to get.
- Spend the money on high lifestyle to have some minor in game effect, such as advantage on Persuasion checks with upper class PCs.
Should be noted that DMs can already do this -- the Player's Handbook notes that "[y]our lifestyle choice can have consequences." Though the PH doesn't specify explicit benefits or penalties, if a module notes that a particular NPC is impressed by wealthy and powerful individuals or is suspicious of them, the DM is perfectly justified in giving bonuses or penalties to the PC's interactions with that character if the lifestyle the PC is pursuing would have an impact.
The admins have always resisted making explicit rulings from vague points in the PH, so a simple alert to DMs that they can take lifestyle into account when running non-combat encounters should suffice for this.
- More emphasis on the carousing table from the DMG. Nothing to do different, just mention it in the adventures as an option for people.
If the campaign wanted to add the carousing table, I wouldn't complain -- but to say there should be 'more' emphasis is misguided. Currently, as a rule in the DMG not otherwise noted in the campaign documentation, carousing isn't used in AL.
- Use downtime to boast about your deeds (or hire a bard to do so) and have it used to give you more renown, or maybe a small discount on PHB items, or spellcasting services from a particular deity.
Not really a fan of this, as it simply serves to convert one 'currency' into another (downtime into renown, or into gold, etc.). Downtime should stay its own separate 'currency', with its own unique things it can do. For example, the rules already say how to turn downtime into money -- via the Practicing a Profession or Crafting downtime activities, both of which are allowed in AL. Just because some players don't think those are 'good enough' is not a good enough reason, IMO, to create a different, more efficient activity.
- Spend DTDs selling magic items (either certed ones or uncerted ones).
Absolutely opposed. Selling magic items isn't even supported in the core rules; the campaign shouldn't create specialized alternate rules just to address the recurring complaints of players who took magic items they no longer want.
- Donate money or DTDs to factions and/or locations (something like DDEX03-16 Assault on Maerimydra). Have the ability to spend them to assist Phlan refugees, rebuild Mulmaster, buy elections in Hillsfar etc. This can be done mod-by-mod or have conventions report the amount spent to cause an effect on the lore/setting.
This is an interesting idea, though I agree it should be done as part of a specific event rather than made into a general 'downtime activity', so as to better facilitate record-keeping and the ability to see what changes these actions bring to the campaign world.
- Money/DTDs for a mount that's just ever-so-slightly better than a PHB mound.
Again, absolutely opposed. Anything added to the campaign that is 'better' than something that already exists is deliberately defined power-creep. It's one thing to give those out as limited cert options in small batches; it's something else to open up such an option to the entire campaign, to the point where you're an idiot if you don't take the option.
- DTDs for druids to research new forms to shapechange into. X days = Y form. Make a standard list.
Not opposed to allowing druids to gain additional forms as additional creatures are added to the game via new monster books, but this should be done by the campaign, not left to individual power-gamers to figure out which forms they want.
- DTDs for wizards to research spells. X DTDs = scribe a new spell of Y level into their spellbook. It's the same spell as in the PHB, but they can rename it, and have it look different, even though all the mechanical effects are the same.
I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, this does sound flavorful and in-keeping with what a wizard would do with her downtime. On the other, since only wizards and other characters with spellbooks could take advantage of the activity, and would grant them access to spells beyond what their class already allows, I feel as though the benefit would largely be used by players already trying to create abusive characters (multiclass wizards who don't go up additional levels in wizard, and thus currently have to rely on scroll 'drops' in modules to gain new spells that they can use with their new spell slots, for example).
The campaign has done a great job of curtailing abusive options thus far; it would be a shame to let bonus options for abuse sneak in via a 'back door' intended to make a little-used activity more interesting. Or in other words, changes to downtime should make downtime more interesting, not necessarily more useful.
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Pauper
