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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Keldryn" data-source="post: 5911396" data-attributes="member: 11999">I don't think that rules are the best way to handle pacing and downtime issues, other than specifying the amount of time required for healing, crafting items, training, research, and the like.One of the best ways is to simply not have a static setting.  This doesn't mean constantly imposing time limits on the PCs like "rescue the prisoner in 4 days or he will be executed."  Broadly define a handful of movers-and-shakers in the game world (villains and potential allies), assign them some goals, and then set up a game calendar that shows what they will be doing as time progresses.  If the PCs don't interact with them, then they continue as outlined and their actions may create new adventure hooks for the PCs.  If the PCs interfere with them directly, then have them react appropriately.  If the PCs do something that affects them indirectly, then adjust their schedule accordingly.If the PCs want to take 6 months off to craft magic items instead of confronting a villain that they know is up to no good, then he'll have 6 months of progress towards achieving his goals when they're done.  Or maybe he'll have achieved it already; since you set it up before the PCs decided to take time off, you know that you're not being unfair.  15 minute adventuring days likewise don't work very well when there are opponents actively pursuing their own agendas.If a DM doesn't want to run a campaign where the players completely dictate the pace of the game and take their sweet time to be carefully prepared for everything, then he shouldn't focus on littering the landscape with abandoned dungeons populated with undead, traps, and magical constructs.  Make sure there are always 3 or 4 individuals actively pursuing their own agendas.  Obviously, having an evil wizard actively pursuing an advanced degree in slaad philosophy is not a particularly good choice.  Make sure that these goals have a significant impact on the world -- even better if it's an impact that the players won't like.  Demonstrate to the players early on that the world moves on with or without them; an adventure doesn't exist frozen in time until the players decide to tackle it.I hope that the new DMG (or its equivalent) covers this topic.  Players get complacent when it feels like everything is deliberately placed in order for them to exploit.  Of course, it does kind of work that way, but it should never feel that way.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

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