D&D 5E Long-Term Downtime Activities?

[aco175]

I though about the idea of counterfeiting in conjunction with the treasure finding part. You might need to replicate the crown jewels or such and that could take a long time to do it right. There is also a lot of research involved in searching for treasure.

 

[Hriston]

Training is something that could take years to complete.

My rules for 0th-level player characters, that I published on DMs Guild, make extensive use of downtime for gaining 1st-level PHB class features. Each activity takes a certain number of days to complete, some adding up to one or more years, and require a certain number of "aptitude points" to be spent for each day of training to make the system as granular as possible.

 

[LordEntrails]

Training is something that could take years to complete.

My rules for 0th-level player characters, that I published on DMs Guild, make extensive use of downtime for gaining 1st-level PHB class features. Each activity takes a certain number of days to complete, some adding up to one or more years, and require a certain number of "aptitude points" to be spent for each day of training to make the system as granular as possible.

Wait... You are saying that in your games it takes years of downtime activity to go from level 0 to level 1?

 

[Hriston]

Wait... You are saying that in your games it takes years of downtime activity to go from level 0 to level 1?

Well, most of my D&D games start at level 1, but in the games where I've playtested these rules, yes!

 

[Hriston]

Wait... You are saying that in your games it takes years of downtime activity to go from level 0 to level 1?

To expand on this, it depends on the class, some take longer than others, and there's also a system for skipping the downtime and learning on the job, but of course that can be dangerous at level 0 and comes with its own risks.

 

[Micah Sweet]

To expand on this, it depends on the class, some take longer than others, and there's also a system for skipping the downtime and learning on the job, but of course that can be dangerous at level 0 and comes with its own risks.

Sounds really interesting. I may pick that up.

 

[Hriston]

Sounds really interesting. I may pick that up.

Cool, there's a full size preview you can check out to see if it's something you'd want to use.

 

[Lanefan]

To expand on this, it depends on the class, some take longer than others, and there's also a system for skipping the downtime and learning on the job, but of course that can be dangerous at level 0 and comes with its own risks.

Sounds similar to what we've done; and also echoes 1e where a character's starting age is adjusted upwards based on its class*, with the assumption being that the adjustment is there to reflect how much extra time is required to get the basics of that class.

We also have a "fast-track" system for getting through 0th level. Details are here if anyone's interested:

Blue Book - Part 9 - Development

* - except Fighters, whose adjustment is 0. I think Illusionists have the biggest adjustment, at 10 (or 12?) years.

 

[LordEntrails]

To expand on this, it depends on the class, some take longer than others, and there's also a system for skipping the downtime and learning on the job, but of course that can be dangerous at level 0 and comes with its own risks.

I just can't image starting a campaign at level 0 and it taking years in game to actually get to level 1. I guess I can see roleplaying character development, but just sounds like too much for me. My campaigns go for real life years as it is.

 

[Hriston]

I just can't image starting a campaign at level 0 and it taking years in game to actually get to level 1. I guess I can see roleplaying character development, but just sounds like too much for me. My campaigns go for real life years as it is.

Yeah, I intend a much faster pace: some discussion of what happens during downtime punctuated by some brief episodes of adventure. The actual downtime doesn't have to take up too much table time at all, and the XP requirement to get from the beginning of level 0 to level 1 is 150 XP which is about nine medium encounters for a 0th-level character.