D&D 5E Do you actually use "Lifestyle Expenses?"

[Charlaquin]

Do you plan to keep the time a downtime activity takes the same? I think many of them are tied to a week, which would mean many downtime activities would be Wealthy level lifestyle expense. And would it be Wealthy daily rate x 7 or just the daily rate to cover the week?

The revised downtime activities in Xanathar’s are measured in workweeks, but the original PHB versions (which I have always preferred anyway) are measured in individual days, so I would use those. The costs are a little funky - It’s the daily cost multiplied by the number of days of downtime that lifestyle earns you for the week. Here’s the table:

Lifestyle	Cost	Downtime
Wretched	-	-
Squalid	1 sp	1 day
Poor	4 sp	2 days
Modest	3 gp	3 days
Comfortable	8 gp	4 days
Wealthy	20 gp	5 days
Aristocratic	60 gp	6 days

I misremembered in my previous post, it’s 6-day weeks, assuming the 7th day can’t be used for downtime activities because nothing is open (mostly because 6 day weeks lined up better with 6 10-minute-interval hours in the dungeon and 6 4-hour-interval days while traveling).

The reason I multiply the cost by the number of downtime days rather than by 6 (or 7) is so that downtime activities that allow you to maintain a lifestyle while doing them can just earn you the lifestyle’s daily cost. So, for example, in the PHB, practicing a profession lets you maintain a Modest lifestyle for free, or a Comfortable lifestyle if you have a source of gainful employment like a guild. In this system, practicing a profession simply earns you 1 gp per day you spend doing it (or 2 if you have gainful employment). So if you spent all the downtime your Modest (or Comfortable) lifestyle affords you doing that, you would break even.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yes, I do use them, when they are in an area appropriate to them and not out "roughing it" on an adventure.

 

[Lanefan]

Similar to what @beancounter just posted. The players tend to not even write down copper and just write it off to expenses like repairs and drinks. When in town they will cross off several gold to pay for room and general carousing.

This is about what we do also, other than at raw 1st level.

As a player, I usually round my treasury share down to the nearest 10 and assume the extra went into a few good meals, drinks etc.

That said, the game I play in uses a silver-based system (not my choice; but DM's game, DM's rules), which means s.p. and c.p. suddenly become more relevant.

My games tend to not have large amounts of downtime that are more than a couple days or at most a week.

We have training as a thing, and as not everyone bumps at once there's often a few weeks of downtime between adventures and sometimes even during adventures if the party decide to take a training break. Most of the time, those characters who aren't training are assumed to be dealing with the mundanities of treasury evaluation, identification, and division; along with information-gathering if needed.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Its important at low levels, imo, to show the relative improvement. I will often give non-cash rewards to low levels, like "can eat in the keep's kitchen for free", free upkeep of mounts, no city entrance fees, etc.

Aside from the "reward but not cash" aspect, it creates a place the PCs will predictably be. This means they will consistently socialize with the same NPCs. That creates more verisimilitude, creates hooks for encouraging the players to engage with certain plots. I have found they are likely to spend more money in the long haul, as they share their largess with their friends.

 

[edosan]

In D&D where living expenses become pretty inconsequential after say, second level I decided to abstract out living expenses (room, board, maintaining equipment, basic training in your chosen profession) to be 10 gp per level per week, minimum. If you want to use the time for downtime activities, that’s extra.

 

[Stoutstien]

Yes but it's slightly randomized via dice rolls/ ability checks.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

It's such a minute amount that I don't bother unless the party wants a lavish lifestyle.

It's not exactly the same thing, but Matt Mercer telling his players to mark off one silver piece when they use the cable car in one city has become something of a running joke in the current campaign of Critical Role.

 

[Umbran]

Tie the expenses to benefits and detriments...

Note, for example, that the living expenses include maintenance of equipment. If you have expensive equipment (like plate mail armor, for example) you need to pay those costs, or the equipment degrades.

 

[CleverNickName]

Note, for example, that the living expenses include maintenance of equipment. If you have expensive equipment (like plate mail armor, for example) you need to pay those costs, or the equipment degrades.

Oooooo, I really like that idea. I remember reading about how difficult and expensive armor maintenance was, back in the day...it's the origin of the word "blackmail" for a reason.

 

[Umbran]

Oooooo, I really like that idea. I remember reading about how difficult and expensive armor maintenance was, back in the day...it's the origin of the word "blackmail" for a reason.

When I look at the etymology of blackmail, it has nothing to do with armor. In Middle English, the word "mal" or "male" meant rent, or tribute.