D&D 5E Downtime: When, How, and How Much?

[Hriston]

I use the Midgard setting optional rules. For each week that passes IRL the players get double that in downtime.

So if it takes you 4 sessions over 4 weeks once it's over the PCs get 2 months of downtime.

An exception would be if you wanted the next adventure to be hot on the heels of the last one.

Gary Gygax put something like this in 1E. I think it’s that one day goes by in the game-world for every day spent not playing in the real world. I never used that because it always seemed kind of meta to me.

How does that play out at (or away from) the table? It sounds like you have an adventure that everyone is committed to finishing before they can use their accumulated downtime. Is that right, or could a character leave off adventuring and have a period of downtime that’s staggered from that of the other characters?

 

[Hriston]

It technically is a week, since in that world a week is 11 days.

Personally, I haven't found it particularly useful in terms of adjudication. Rather, it is a long enough stretch of time to encourage various projects. One or two days is fine if you want to brew a few extra healing potions, but it's not really sufficient to do larger projects. While a character probably isn't going to build a home or whatnot in 11 days, they can get a decent chunk of work done such that they feel like they're making real progress towards that goal. I find that shorter time periods discourage the more grandiose planning that makes downtime really worth it (IMO).

Okay, so by basically sidelining the characters for a significant period of time, you find they make better use of downtime than if they were allowed to continue adventuring or take downtime at will?

 

[Hriston]

Oh, they know they can spend some time to do some activities other than rushing toward the next adventures, they just dont get why they would do that.

In the words of one of my players: ''You really expect me to spend some time on research and working a job!?'' or ''You guys tell me in advance if you intend on wasting time in the next town, I'mma go breastfeed the monster'' (This player brings her baby to the game, its nothing weird )

Okay, but I thought the situation you were describing was one in which there was no “next adventure”. In that situation, where the DM isn’t providing any adventure hooks, how is it “wasting time” to pursue downtime activities in town, or would they rather explore the surrounding wilderness?

 

[Hriston]

They can generally have as much as they want, as long as they realize time marches on. I don’t limit it directly, but if they take too much and an army is on the way, their downtime may get interrupted...

Do you generally have a timeline of events that progress as the campaign goes on, and space for downtime between the events?

 

[Hriston]

Well, it isn't so much that the roads are impassible as much as not worth it (typically). And so we shop, train, etc. Sometimes it turns into a winter town adventure, other times the months pass by and after the downtime is resolved we hit the road again.

The 5-year break was because our party had plans. We had a castle build, some characters got married and had kids, started businesses, etc. We had predetermined 5 years would be our time and then we would meet up again to resume our adventures. Our wizard researched spells and we crafted magic items. The best was the adventures that followed. We weren't "epic" but we had some pretty darn memorable games... the type you tell other groups about almost twenty years later and they wish they had been part of it.

Okay, so your adventurers like to take the winter off, which sounds a lot more player-driven than what I was thinking.

What about the five-year period of downtime do you think made the subsequent adventures so memorable?

 

[Hriston]

Well, by the end of a scenario they head back to dispose of loot, and re-supply. Once at whatever place they are using for their base, the party leader determines how much downtime they will take by polling the other players.

The rules for most of those activities are clear (leveling, potions, etc), so the group figures out how much time they need, and then the party leader adds on a certain number of days and there we are. I leave it all up to the players.

Once the time is allocated, I go around the table establishing the specifics of each PC's (most players run 2) downtime. Then we all attended to the admin work involved (they deal out shares of loot on downtime, check on their investments, etc), deal with roleplay and research, and off we go. I try to get downtime at the end of a session or the start of the next session, but we play it as it falls.

Here's our timelime: Dark Age | Adventure Log | Obsidian Portal

It sounds like the party takes downtime all together, but considering most of the players in your group run two PCs, do you ever have a situation where some of the PCs stay home (and maybe continue with downtime) while the others go on an adventure?

 

[uzirath]

Do the players ever misapprehend or ignore the “needs of the story” and take downtime anyway, or are they a fairly cooperative group?

When I refer to the needs of the story, I mean from the perspective of the players. They're the one's driving the story. They choose when they take downtime. When they are engaged with the story, they push hard to keep following leads and whatnot and aren't interested in taking time off. At other times, it seems appropriate to say, "time passes," and pick up the story (the next chapter, say) a bit later.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Okay, so by basically sidelining the characters for a significant period of time, you find they make better use of downtime than if they were allowed to continue adventuring or take downtime at will?

In my experience, not all players will take downtime unless "forced" to. They basically just want to go from adventure to adventure. Which isn't really a problem per se, except when there are players who do want downtime. The wizard wants to research spells but the fighter wants to find out if the rumor of the dragon that lives under the mountain is true.

This strikes a balance. Technically they can have all the downtime they want. I won't force them out of town. Although the world will continue to progress without them if they sit in town for extended periods of time. However, the wizard (or whoever) is typically guaranteed a week between adventures to do downtime activities. The impatient fighter is also encouraged to expand his horizons a little by dabbling in downtime (since what else is he going to do).

If they really wanted to, they could keep adventuring with miasma poisoning. They've seen other creatures that were affected by the miasma and it mutated them, but sometimes made them stronger. If they really wanted to, they could choose to ignore downtime entirely and risk mutation. It could be harmful, but my mutation system also has beneficial mutations. Risky, but if they really wanted to chance it they could.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Okay, so your adventurers like to take the winter off, which sounds a lot more player-driven than what I was thinking.

What about the five-year period of downtime do you think made the subsequent adventures so memorable?

Oh, yes! Some of the most incredible adventures I've ever been part of. Trials and danger, love, death, visiting gods and ultimate sacrifice. During that time so much happened, home bases established, characters married and children born, etc. It made the risk so much more because of what was being left behind...

 

[Jd Smith1]

It sounds like the party takes downtime all together, but considering most of the players in your group run two PCs, do you ever have a situation where some of the PCs stay home (and maybe continue with downtime) while the others go on an adventure?

Nope. The group, regardless of setting or rules, is always configured so as to be able to split into two fire teams.