Big Rich’s Take On Downtime

Downtime activities are tasks that usually take a workweek (5 days) or longer to perform, and are often done between adventures and typically done in populated areas where resources and equipment exist. These tasks can include crafting items, research and study, working, relaxing, buying/selling magic items, pit fighting, crime and more. Some activities require a monetary investment and a skill check, and not all tasks result in success.

The DM will have final say on which activities are available to the characters. The activities the DM allows might depend on the nature of the area where the characters are located. For example, the DM might disallow the creation of magic items or decide that the characters are in a town that is too isolated from major markets for them to buy such items.

Adventurer’s League seemed to use this 5th edition Core rule more than any other source. I really can’t remember one of the published adventure books saying “if your playing characters are starting this adventure after a workweek of Downtime …” so it’s one of those things a DM has to install and enable.

Xanathar’s Guide expanded Downtime rules nicely, offering new activities and resolution tables. I like the Xanathar charts and will be using them going forward in our campaign.

Now, I have tried using Downtime activities in my campaigns previously and it was fairly unsuccessful. First, the players don’t usually expect that Downtime will be happening and even if they do they usually don’t know enough about these activities to care or take full advantage of them.

My last experience I thought I was being smart as a DM. We were playing during the 2020 Pandemic on Discord at least twice a week. At the end of a session, I explained that next session we’d be using Downtime Activities and provided the players the sources in D&D Beyond (which they had access to through sharing my resources) where they could read about Downtime and plan out what to do next.

Simple. Effective. Right?

No. When the next session came none of them had read through the less than 4 pages of material. They proved to be normal humans playing D&D despite my expectations. I mean, realistically most players haven’t even read the Player’s Handbook cover to cover. (Heck, I bet most DM’s haven’t read any of the Core books cover to cover. Shame! Shame!)

So trying to talk through Downtime that session was like pulling teeth. At one point, we just abandoned the idea because the players didn’t understand what Downtime was for or why they should care.

Which is fine. Like Wash said in Firefly: Some people like to juggle geese. Humans are humans and most of them are flawed and all of them are weird. And some of them juggle geese. And they enjoy it.

So this time around here’s my take on Downtime. We’re playing Light of Xaryxis and in our last session (Episode 4) the characters finally made it into Wildspace on the Moondancer. Now they are heading to a frontier planet to drop off refugees from their world. Seems like that would be a great opportunity for Downtime.

So I decided to try a different approach this time.

I created several Homebrew Downtime Feats in D&D Beyond based on Xanathar’s Guide. I plan to have the players read through and select two Downtime Feats they are interested in. This narrows things down to two options, and makes them easily accessible since they are all using the app anyway. After they have a chance to use Downtime a few times, I will allow them to mix or match different ones from the list, removing ones they disliked or adding new ones they want to try.

I figure that Spelljammer travel allows for Downtime play, and there is a good chance that visiting places like The Rock of Bral or Sigil will allow for some Downtime activities as well. I don’t want to only use it between adventures but also when there is a period of 5 days or so spent doing something in game time.

I also plan to present Downtime as an opportunity rather than a requirement. I think in the online COVID-19 game I unintentionally made it seem like something that had to be done like chores or homework on the weekend. And of nobody wants to take advantage of that workweek, that’s cool. No problem.

So that’s my take on Downtime. What do you think, nameless reader? Chime in below and leave a comment. Until next time, may your rolls be with Advantage.