D&D 5E using the research downtime activity

[77IM]

Combining my first idea and second idea, I get this variant:

Difficulty (based on what you are seeking)
Fairly well-known -> DC 10
Obscure, but known in modern times by scholars and specialists -> DC 15
Rare or ancient knowledge -> DC 20
Information never known to mortal ken -> DC 25
Information deliberately suppressed, ignored, or forgotten -> Increase DC by 5

Time
1d4 days per try

Number of Tries (based on where you are looking)
A small village -> zero; you need special DM permission to even attempt research
A small library, or asking the scholars in a large town -> 1 try
A large library, or asking around a big city -> 3 tries
A grand and ancient library -> 5 tries
An extraplanar repository of thoughts and memories -> 7 tries

When you are out of tries, you simply can't find the information in that location. It's beyond your capabilities. Someone else can try, though, and you may try to find other information there.
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All of these ideas I'm coming up with hinge on the idea that research itself is boring; it merely points the way towards more interesting gameplay. If you find the information your adventure goes in one direction. If you fail to find the information (either by failing the roll or running out of time) your adventure goes in another direction.

 

[edhel]

I use knowledge points (re: GUMSHOE) in my campaign so downtime research was an easy fit. For every 5 you get from your roll, you get one knowledge point you can use to 'know' a thing. The points can be free-floating, generic like the skills (arcana, history, nature, etc.), or specific (dwarves, ancient spells, runes). Appropriate libraries and collections might give an advantage or a bonus to your roll.

If you use this system, I don't think you have to worry about how long it takes to research a subject if players get to choose what they want to know. You can of course make rarer knowledge cost more but that's up to you. Research time might also depend on how fast time moves in your campaign. If PCs usually spend only couple of the days in cities between adventures, then that's how long it takes. Spending 30 days in an abstract downtime isn't usually any more interesting than spending 3 days.

As a side note:
The benefit of making knowledge more abstract (until used) is that you can give it to the PCs as a reward. A freed demon might give you 3 points of demon knowledge, you might glean 2 points of dwarf history from a stone carving, or a local bard's song might have 1 point of local knowledge. It's easy to houserule to your liking too: You can set an upper limit to the points, use it along side with the normal knowledge, or have them last only one adventure, etc.

 

[pukunui]

That's an intriguing idea. Thanks for sharing!