Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 115 - Character Downtime

Episode Date: March 6, 2022

This episode idea comes courtesy of Lauren in California!   Character Downtime is mishandled by too many DMs.  They look at it as time the characters could better spend stabbing things in the face and discovering the Lost Place Settings of Korrak.  I think downtime has a place in nearly any adventure.  In this episode, I discuss why downtime is important and what activities can fill this time that still drives your story forward.

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Downtime lets your players reveal things about their characters through their individual goals. It makes the campaign more realistic. It gives the opportunity for characters to show off their capabilities that don't really come up in a dungeon. And it allows characters to retrain and retool their characters to be more effective going forward. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 115 of the Taking20 podcast. This week, all about handling character downtime. This week's sponsor, Origami.

I've noticed Origami streaming shows don't really get a huge audience. They're all paper view. I'll be having another mailbag episode for episode 120. If you have a question that you'd like to ask, but you think it may not be enough for a full episode, send it to me at feedback at taking20podcast.com. Don't be shy. The episode that week will be as long or as short as it needs to be to answer all the questions that I get. Also, if you don't think I can bullshit a full episode out of a half-baked idea, well, you haven't been paying attention. Speaking of episode ideas, this episode was suggested by Lauren in California,

who wanted some ideas about what could be done to fill character downtime. Thank you for your email, for listening, and for the topic idea, Lauren. So let's start by defining downtime. What is downtime in an RPG? Downtime is the time between active quests or adventuring activities. Many game sessions focus on the time spent in dungeons, you know, killing dragons and, um, wait, is that where the name of the game came from? Going into dungeons and killing dragons? Right. Next you're going to tell me that MechWarrior is about warriors fighting in giant robots called mechs. What? They do. What the hell do you know? Anyway, downtime. Downtime isn't about short rests, long rests,

or overnight camping to regain lost spells. Downtime is long-term, extended periods of time where your characters aren't off gallivanting in the forest, spelunking in caves, slaying monsters, solving quests, recovering artifacts, discovering lost civilizations, or doing unspeakable acts to NPCs far and wide. So what's the problem? Why the hell is Jeremy dedicating an entire episode to this? Is he wearing pants when he records? Don't ask, because you don't want to know the answer. The reason why we're covering downtime, though, is that it can be boring if handled incorrectly.

And I think a lot of DMs and GMs ignore the downtime portion of the game rules. You just have a bunch of players staring at each other, wondering when they're going to be making attack rolls again. But when downtime is handled properly, these activities can give your players the opportunity to expand the depth of the character that they play. Characters can interact with each other and with important NPCs. They can build ties between them and your game world. And finally, you can reveal lore about your campaign that might otherwise go undiscovered. Let me preface this entire episode

with the statement that what you can do during downtime varies widely depending on your game system. Also, if you and your group want to just hand wave downtime, skip ahead to the next adventure, go with the gods, my friends. No judgment coming here. So why would I advocate including sessions with character downtime? Well, first off, downtime gives your campaign room to breathe. Most campaigns go from adventure to adventure, set piece to set piece, dungeon to dungeon, story reveal to cutscene, with very little in between. The campaign is go, go, go, action, action, action, delve, delve, delve. Suddenly it ends and the characters can feel flat, one or two dimensional. Real life isn't like that. We don't just go all the time. I've

tried go, go, go for a few days and my body eventually says, you're stopping now whether you want to or not. And I slept for the better part of two days. Downtime allows your characters to pursue individual goals. Most of the time, all the characters are focused on whatever goals the whole party wants to pursue. They put aside individual quests and character motivations to work to meet party goals, complete the adventures in front of them, and they absolutely should. It means they're working well as part of a team. But downtime allows your characters to split apart, explore their own characters' wants and needs. split apart, explore their own characters' wants and needs.

Downtime lets the player reveal more about their character in part of a session focusing on what they're doing, while the rest of the party is off doing their own things. They're tracking down a lost loved one, searching for that one rival that they're trying to humiliate. They're researching more about the mysterious amulet that they're wearing. They're trying to find a safe place for their family to live until the big bad is taken care of. Maybe they're starting a business. Whatever it is, it lets them do it without worrying that they're pulling other characters away from what's best from the whole party and what's best for each of them individually. Another reason why I like downtime sessions is that it allows for truly open gameplay. A lot of GMs look at a true sandbox adventure and they really shy away from

it. They think it's scary that the PCs could do, well, anything. They think they need to prep everything, know everything, be ready for anything the players could do. They think they need notebooks full of notes in case they go in the Museum of Unnatural History, talk to Caramella the Noble, or have stats for Dracus the Red Dragonborn Blacksmith in case they pick a fight. Spoiler alert, by the way, you don't need all that shit. See episode 26, The Basics of Improv, for skills that you can hone that allows you to make a lot of this stuff up on the fly. Running true sandbox adventures can be tough, but sandbox downtime removes a lot of the potential variables. but sandbox downtime removes a lot of the potential variables.

For example, on downtime sandboxes, you probably won't be running round-over-round combat, so you don't need to have stat blocks for everything prepared. Downtime sandboxes are much easier to run, and if you're scared about DMing in a true open sandbox, use the downtime to get a feel for it before you jump in with both feet, maybe in a true sandbox adventure. Another reason why I like downtime is that it allows players to retool for the adventure ahead. Many times players will make a choice for their characters as they level that just sounds so cool. I'm going to use this all the time! And then when they play the character, maybe the choice was just wrong. They don't enjoy playing it. It's not what they expected. The mechanics make it difficult. It's just not fun. I've done it. Most veteran players

have. I had always wanted to play an investigator with a one-level dip into Swashbuckler to make the character more combat capable. It looked amazing on paper. Multiple fellow players said how much they loved playing that exact character. So, I made a ratfolk, took the one level dip, and... eh. Being small had its disadvantages, and the party wound up already having a rogue and a good frontline fighter by that time, so my character wasn't really all that useful, or capable, or really even fun. I spoke to the DM, and the next time we had some downtime, my Yosuke investigator led a group of rescued prisoners back to town, and one of the prisoners happened to be a cleric of a rastle, which the party desperately needed. I'm having way more fun

with that character than the investigator. In summary, downtime lets your players reveal things about their characters through their individual goals, it makes the campaign more realistic, it gives the opportunity for characters to show off their capabilities that don't really come up in a dungeon, and it allows characters to retrain and retool their characters to be more effective going forward. So what does downtime really look like in practice? Let's say the characters just rescued the ship, the SS Thunder Chunder, taking it back from the pirates who had seized it and sailed it back to town to the cheer of the crowd and the clink of gold coins in their pockets. You, DM, now say your characters have three weeks in town before

the next major event. What could the characters do? Well, the short answer is anything your system's downtime rules allow that you feel comfortable with. Craft items, work a job, research a topic, run a business, whatever. And I think that's where a lot of DMs struggle. The possibilities are too numerous. The choice is too vast. And the DMs feel like they need to have every answer at their fingertips. But the point is, the PCs have a wide variety of activities they could perform. Off the top of my head, they PCs have a wide variety of activities they could perform. Off the top of my head, they could have a little mini-adventure that takes place within those three weeks. They could train with an expert or a school of fighting or school of magic. They could join or start a guild. They could work at a temple. They could retrain a class skill, build a castle,

hire staff, go shopping, whatever it is. Each player declares what they want to do, and then when each player performs three weeks of activities, you bring the party back together to continue the adventure. Sounds simple, right? So what are some best practices or my tips for downtime? When it comes to downtime, focus in-world, not at table. Even in light roleplay games, focus on character motivations and goals. The player Peter may want to change to the level 8 choice for his character Shadow Thane for one reason or another, but instead of describing it as something Peter wants, describe it as something that Shadow Thane wants. It's a very little thing, but it gives a small sense of realism to the game. Another thing I recommend is that you talk to the players one-on-one

to find out what they want to do during their downtime. Some characters have secrets that they don't want to reveal at the table in front of everyone. Let them have their secrets that they can choose to reveal whenever they feel comfortable doing so or when it would be a great plot moment. Another tip, have a quick cut scene to start the downtime. Have a quick description of the party shaking hands, splitting up, agreeing to meet back on x date at y time to pick up the adventure. The characters go their separate ways, all the downtime shit happens, and then have a cut scene where the party comes back together.

Once they are back together though, give each character the spotlight so that player can reveal some, all, or none of what they did, what they worked on, how their character changed, and so forth. Allow them to reveal as much or as little as they would like. The activities that they took, the changes that they made, the improvements that they made are theirs to reveal, not yours. Even though you're the DM and you're the GM and you're the god of the entire world, we get it. But this is their character.

Don't take away player agency by revealing what everyone did while they were apart. They could have gotten new items, new character features, new information that they discovered through research, hell, a new haircut. Whatever it may be, the player can choose how much the character reveals. When you have given every player the spotlight and given them the opportunity to reveal as much or as little as they want to, then you can continue the main adventure. Another tip for downtime. Don't pull out dice until they're needed.

Note, needed. The game rules could even say roll a die here, but if you don't feel like they're needed, keep them in your pouch. There may be skill checks, ability rolls, or even attack and damage rolls as part of downtime. Stay diceless during a character's downtime activities if you can for as long as you can. And what do I mean by that? If a player tells you that their character wants to look for a high quality tailor, don't make them roll dice for gather information, diplomacy, talky talky skills, whatever. Just

hand wave it and say they find the tailor. Requiring skill checks for something like this only delays the adventure and you know they're going to succeed eventually. So just hand wave stuff like that and save the die rolls for the stuff that really matters. Also during downtime, allow players to use their background and non-combat skills to further the campaign if they can. Downtime activities are opportunities for your characters to show off their knowledge skills, professions from their history, social and non-combat type skills. If you can come up with an idea on how one of these character skills could help the adventure down the road, tell the DM and DMs listen to their idea and if it halfway makes sense, maybe allow them to make some of those skill checks to affect the campaign itself.

Another tip, use your downtime to world build. You can reveal any part of your world's societies, history, or lore that otherwise would have gone unused. Allow your players to collect rumors and information about the world during downtime. It's an easy way to get your characters into parts of your cities that otherwise would have gone unused

and reveal news and activities at the local and national level during downtime. Also, take a lesson from what was discussed with Shane of the Ventureforth podcast in episode 113. Their DM, Ethan, allows the players leeway to describe where the shops are in a city, the names of the shops, the shop owners, names of people that they run into, what they look like, and so on and so on. Allow the players to contribute to the narrative and help design the game world. Also, if you haven't already, please go check out their podcast. It is still amazing and I'm loving it this many episodes in. Another tip, allow characters to prepare during downtime and give them an easier

time adventuring. Allow them to research information that they might need about the area they will be going to, historical figures associated with a lost city, legend, histories about the region. Somewhere down the line, give the characters a small bonus to some role because they were able to collect information during downtime. Allow your party to build connections to or reputation with other groups. They can use this downtime to meet new NPCs and new groups. If your game has an influence or relationship mechanic, allow the players to use that time to establish rapport with groups, legal and maybe not so legal, that could help the characters in the future. You can always use your downtime to do a mini-adventure that completes within the downtime period. If you're going to have a mini-adventure though, I strongly suggest having

that adventure advance a side plot or character plot. If the PCs go shake down a pirate for information about the thieves that stole this ship, the SS Thunderchunder... So, my wife tells me that the SS Thunderchunder is an inappropriate name for a ship, so I've renamed it the SS Technicolor Yawn. The SS Vom.com? The SS Heave Ho. Really? You're letting Heave Ho through? I was hoping I could get all the way to the SS Sidewalk Pizza. Okay, sorry about that.

Whatever major or minor reveal is needed, you could always have an adventure about that. Or it could be a character plot tied to backstory or some character secret. Norella the Sorcerer finds out that her sister is actually alive and living in Tennis Bomb under the name Madam Liquid Scream. Okay, yeah, that was another vomit joke. I've had good success with nearly any adventuring activity that is tangentially related either to the story or the characters. Here's why I say this. If you have an adventure, a little mini-adventure that's during the downtime period and it's completely unrelated and doesn't benefit the characters in some way, why? All it does is artificially prolong the downtime in specific and the campaign as a whole. Now, if the adventure is

to enrich the PCs, make it easier for them to gain XP, or better prepare them for an adventure at hand, you're in good shape. But if it's completely unrelated, it feels like a distraction. Sure, the pirate ship was stolen, but the Fey Queen wants more of these special mushrooms that when you eat them, you see colors that don't really exist in the world. Okay, so the Fey Queen likes drugs. Got it. But why would that little mini-adventurer finding the mushrooms benefit your campaign at all? Last topic. Don't lose track of the cost of living.

Each game system I've ever seen has a cost of living per day, per week, per month, per whatever. Don't forget to debit those costs. It costs something for food, water, a roof over your head, whatever lifestyle that you're leading, whether that's in a mansion in the best part of town or living under a bridge and eating dog food. I'm a huge proponent of realism, so if you feel comfortable doing so, it would be better to customize any potential events that could happen during downtime based on where they're living. The day-to-day activities in the nicer areas of town obviously will be different than those if you're living in Squalor. Do you get to the Cloud District very often? Oh, what am I saying? Of course you don't. Up yours, Nazeem, you undeservedly arrogant dingleberry. I shout you to

oblivion every single chance I get. Okay, now's a good time to jump into 5th edition's downtime rules because they take a lot of this into account. 5e's downtime rules have evolved as more books have come out, and they are so much better than the original rules in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. The original rules were basically, the DM asks the players what they want to do. Players choose one of the listed downtime activities with a set duration and cost in gold. The activities could have been crafting, practicing a profession, resting, researching, training,. The activities could have been crafting, practicing a profession, resting, researching, training, building a stronghold, carousing, making magic items,

running a business, selling shit, and sowing rumors. You make a d20, resolve the activity, done. Repeat for each player, DM interprets the results, the adventure continues. If you're a new DM, there is nothing wrong with sticking to this limited list. If you're a new DM, there is nothing wrong with sticking to this limited list. But later on, when Xanathar's Guide to Everything came out, it really expanded the rules and gave a lot more options. Buying and selling magic items. It gave more rules for carousing, food, drink, companionship, if you know what I mean. That's right.

You can spend the time with somebody who wants to hear about your character's drizzit fan fiction. More rules for crafting, rules for committing crime, gambling, pit fighting, expanded rest and relaxation rules, spending time at the temple, research, scribing scrolls, training, general labor. When that book came out, the options just really opened up for all of your characters. Later on, when Acquisitions Incorporated came out, it added even more rules. It gave you rules for owning a business, philanthropic activities,

or even purchasing part of a franchise. Yep, time to open up that Waterdeep Burger King, because Xanathar needs his Whopper fix. These rules added complications, rival mechanics, and they really enriched your character downtime to make it feel more like an adventure. 5e has done a fantastic job of expanding downtime options from the original rules. They've given a tremendous variety of actions, so take a read of them if you're in the middle of a 5e campaign. Jumping over to Pathfinder 1st Edition, they had traditional downtime activities just like

my fifth edition section if you're new to dm there's nothing wrong with sticking to this list use downtime to add spells to your spell book build a stronghold or building craft mundane and magic items work using a skill or profession to earn money earn experience points gather information rest and recuperate run run a business, find a new familiar, because you know your GM hates them and kills them every chance they get. I say as my spoiled rotten dog lies on top of my feet beneath my computer table. You could also research new spells, new items, information. You could retrain your character. Later on, additional rules were released, like a hybrid between the traditional rules and kingdom building rules. The first

edition rules were all built around this resource called capital. Capital are build points, gold pieces, goods, influence, labor, and magic. You could gain capital by using various skills, bribing people, purchasing materials, paying fees, hiring workers, doing mundane work, using profits from your business, and so forth. These expanded and more complicated Pathfinder First Edition downtime rules were broken up into four phases. You had an upkeep phase where you paid costs associated with your assets. Like if you've been gone for more than seven days, employee morale starts to drop, that type of thing. Activity phase where you actually perform those downtime activities. You buy gear, sell magic items, sell treasure, and so forth. The income phase, which determines how much capital you earned from your buildings, your organizations, and other assets. And then the fourth phase,

which is the event phase, which is any unusual things that may happen. Now, these additional rules involving capital are a ton more complex, and save it for if you're a very veteran GM that really wants to make downtime a core part of the gameplay. Jumping over to Pathfinder 2nd Edition, those rules are really streamlined compared to the older game systems I just talked about. The only real rules defined as of this recording, you can craft items, you can earn money, you can buy and sell items, you can take long-term rest

and recuperation, you can do retraining, time and cost depending, you can treat disease, and you can subsist, which basically just means that you live. The Pathfinder 2nd Edition rules really are simplified, but that's probably because 2e is still fairly new. I'd expect these rules will expand as more material is released for the game system. By the way, that doesn't mean that you couldn't incorporate some of those other great ideas from 5e or 1st Edition into 2e. Homebrew it, baby! The conversion from 1st edition Pathfinder to 2nd edition Pathfinder is a well-worn road. There are a ton of resources out there that you can find. There are even groups that have made resources, print books,

and websites that help you to convert from 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons to Pathfinder 2nd edition. They help you convert DCs for skill checks, money made, costs, and so forth. So if you're playing 2nd Edition, but like the mechanics from some of those other game systems, take a crack at homebrewing something similar until there's an official release. Jeez, I have talked a lot today. Downtime gives your campaign room to breathe,

opportunities for your characters to pursue individual goals, build reputation, and retrain or retool character skills and class abilities for the adventure ahead. Allow your players to provide their downtime activities to you in secret that they can reveal all, some, or even none of those activities to the rest of the party when time is right. If you're in a long campaign, add a little downtime to the occasional session. I think you and your players would have fun doing it. Add a little downtime to the occasional session. I think you and your players would have fun doing it. It would be great, by the way, if you could leave me a rating wherever you found this fantastic,

fine, mediocre, drunken rambling podcast. But do you know what would be even better? A blow... I mean a review. Please consider leaving a review wherever you found me. That would really help me get the word out about this podcast. Tune in next week when we'll be covering that event that can cement a DM's reputation, the Total Party Kill or TPK. But before I go, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Origami.

This just in, a local man has learned how to do origami backwards. More on this story as it unfolds. This has been episode 115, Handling Character Downtime. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube Media Production. Copyright 2022. References to game system content are copyrighted by their respective publishers.