How to Run Downtime in Dungeons and Dragons 5e
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2024
- MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... We discuss why downtime is important to a D&D campaign, what value it adds to the world, characters, and story, and the tools we use to implement it well. We also look at some fun options and ideas surrounding various lengths of downtime and what sorts of things might make sense to include.
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TIME STAMPS
0:00 - Opening
0:42 - Intro
2:25 - Why Use Downtime?
5:17 - Live In The World
7:27 - How To Implement Downtime
8:59 - Step 1: Describe
9:53 - Step 2: Present
11:27 - Step 3: Conclude
12:07 - Step 4: Prepare
13:25 - A Few Days Of Downtime
17:57 - A Few Weeks Of Downtime
20:53 - A Few Months Of Downtime
23:51 - A Year Or More Of Downtime
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“You might want to dedicate an entire session for downtime of months or years”
My party: spends two entire sessions on one afternoon of shopping + a minor jewlery con
How much of that was spent haggling/planning, though?
I’m assuming they had a blast though
That’s the thing. You can resolve a year in 30 minutes or you can resolve 30 minutes over 6 hours
"Train some new abilities, or try some crime" That really is just Dungeons and Dragons
Gonna need that thermal drill.
Pretty much every interaction with a Rogue:
DM: Okay, so what are you doing with your down time, Rogue?
Rogue: I would like to roll for crimes.
@@theovernight1915 Dm: Oh so you guys want some healing potions? That will be 50 gold for the 2.
Rouge: No it won't
@@aaront.6717 Nope... Rogue don't spend all their days stealing sh!t. Just like a bank robber in RL isn't robbing bank and stuff all the time. MOST of the time they do PAY FOR STUFF.
@@fredericleclerc9037 Well yeah of course. Its just the stereotype.
It kills me how casually Kelly says 'maybe it's a great time to make a clone'. It's the same way I say 'maybe it's a great time to make a pie'.
I know you might have more Tasha's content to talk about, but could you guys do a video on how to run a one shot, particularly for new players? I'm sure you've got lots of great tips.
Rule one: Don't be a dick
Rule two: See rule One
Hi. I used to run a D&D server dedicated to interconnected one shots. I wrote a guide for that server which pretty much included these tips.
1. Introductions are important! Because this is a one shot game the players will not know each other's characters (typically) and therefore won't even know what anyone else looks like. Make sure to take a moment after the game starts to have everyone describe their character. I usually wait for a travel phase, if they need to travel to the one shot's location I'll have them describe their physical appearance AND any characteristics other players might notice about their personality along the travel.
Make sure to take notes about player gear and unusual physical appearances that players mention. If you want to run a great memorable one shot the world needs to react to the characters. If someone is a Lizardfolk with purple stripes having an NPC call them "scaly" or make some mention of their appearance will really bring players into the game without much work.
Also you keep track of gear because your enemies will often try to go after the no armored types with the least threatening weapons (unless we're talking about an ooze or a slime.)
2. Hit an emotional core! You got to make sure the players care about the game which means hitting on some kind of emotion early. Set an emotional theme for your game whether it is; fear, anger, humor, depression, etc.
Great ways to do this is to have your NPC giving the quest actually have a personality and really NEEDS help. A old man who says "Goblins are attacking my village" will get the players to visit the village, but if the old man says "Please! Old Scruff is still in the town. My dog is my only companion I have left. Please save him." Suddenly the party is hit with an attachment to the game. They aren't just murdering a bunch of goblins they are saving an old man's dog.
If they walk into a camp of goblins with that man's dog hanging over the cooking fire, you just reached a real emotional core that will nail the players into the story.
3. Make sure to describe the landscape! You only get one shot (lol) at describing the world. Make sure you give a few senses worth of information. It doesn't need to be ENDLESSLY detailed. But telling them "You enter into a feywild woods" isn't enough, but saying "The woods smell odd as you enter, a faint hint of liquorice on the air. Odd purple mists seem to obscure your vision in the distance, and whispers of laughter seem to echo softly throughout." Pick three or 4 senses to describe and you are done. The players will paint the rest of it in their head.
4. For new players make sure to go easy on them. I usually print out a sheet of ALL the actions any character can take. A lot of players don't realize something like the Dodge action or Help is even an option. But I wouldn't worry too much about new players. New players who are into D&D will LOVE anything you do. Don't overwhelm them with difficulty, don't underwhelm them either, whelm them with a nice challenge and they will love it the whole time.
New players are easy to please. Old players are the ones to watch out for.
Sorry for the book! Hope this helps.
I wouldn't mind see that kind of video. Might help my friend dip her toes into the DM seat. Even if she wants to run One-shots.
I would definitely watch a dungeon dudes video on one shots. Matt Colville has a video about it as well, OP you might like that.
@@OgenB hi, this is great! Is there any way you would share a link to the full guide? I'd love to read it
I'm a physician working a COVID unit out in the middle of nowhere in Michigan. My party plays virtually, allowing me to have one solid distraction from work outside of M&Ms and binge watching Dungeon Dudes.
My Assassin likes to create disguises in his downtime.
Now that's an idea. I was thinking creating poisons, especially with the new poisoner feat. But creating disguises, casing places, trying to find contracts are all neat ideas.
One of the very few times you see people use that features, most don't bother going past level 3 with Assassin but I LOVE the feature of being able to create new identities on Assassin to, never know when you're gonna need 'Sir Geldibald Berkin, envoy for the Duke of [insert far away area here] to get in to a nobles party'.
First of all, Bless you for the job you do.
Second, my last 5e character spent his downtime helping the orphanage in which he was raised. In fact, the whole party’s backstories included that orphanage, which made it a great central plot point and theme in the game.
@@queenannsrevenge100 are you batman with the bat family.
Or are you shazam with the shazam kids?
Thank you for all you're doing! ❤
Also, I love the irony of a physician assassin.
You guys have done it again- literally the 15th time somehow you release a video that is *perfectly* timed for where my homebrew game is currently at. What sorcery is this Monty and Kelly!? Just another reason why I love your content!
Happy to help!
@@DungeonDudes Umm, sorry to bother you guys at work, but I have a statement here for a series of microphones and camera's at a Mr. ...*paper-flip paper-flip... a Mr. _Mann's_ residence? No major hurry, we'd just like to ensure that your holiday expenses don't get overwhelmed because of an unaccounted-for espionage suite bill.
Thank you for choosing *_Blatant and Obvious Surveillance Supplies: BOSS_* is always watching you!
I think they might be using scry...
I have one ending and one just entering a spot for downtime, great timing
Same here. I've been looking at ways to run downtime and now you appear on cue as usual :D.
I'll be adding your info to my campaign compendium and getting my players to watch this for some inspiration.
I once had a player who made interesting use of their downtime. They would conduct tarot card readings for their character and make notes. Occasionally, they would let me read the notes to inspire gameplay ideas for their character’s next session. This worked out so well that they began doing readings for other players and sharing new gameplay ideas based on “fate”.
Recently I played a downtime session for my group, where one player was in Waterdeep recruiting crew members for their ship. Seeing as it was going to be a session centered on this PC, I gave my players each a couple NPC’s (with short descriptions, stats etc.) to play! This way the session wasn’t boring for the other players, because they could focus on that moment when their NPC’s interaction would take place. I thought it was worthwhile to share, seeing as i haven’t seen the idea mentioned yet.
As Matthew Colville exposits in his Downtime video, I think downtime shouldn't really be done at the table with all the players, unless they are ALL together for their downtime. Using discord or texting to play out what happens between adventures with each player individually is, I think, a more efficient use of your time as a dm.
Especially if the players have more than a week of downtime
if you have the opportunity, it is great and I think they should've mentioned it. But as a DM who hasn't got much free time, having a downtime session gives me a breather and plan the next steps more thoroughly. and as a player, the group once also decided in having a downtime session, RPing in a tavern as we had just been double crossed again, and needed to vent as characters
I like the idea of using downtime to roleplay characters leveling up, putting items and npcs in the world that grant them their new class features so that it feels like part of the story instead of just a mechanic.
Exactly this! 💯
I feel like over the past year, Dungeon Dudes have gotten so much more relaxed and natural and I love the little jokes that feel really unscripted. Straight up makes this my favorite d&d channels.
I love how Torchbearer handles downtime. Each activity has a lifestyle cost with it and as you do town you watch you bills getting bigger and bigger. When you leave you test your Resources stat plus treasure to pay your bills. Players consistently spend nearly all their money so they NEED to find treasures before the next town visit.
Upcoming festivals are a great way to open the story up to downtime that feels more organic than just housekeeping for the characters, you rock up to a town or city and see preparations for a local or national festival and decide to hang around for the festivities, this gives that week or so in the lead up to the festival for the party to do their upkeep stuff finding and buying resources, making some money that doesn't involve risking death, emptying the junk that inevitably builds up in the inventories, developing skills, finding info for the next portion of the campaign.
One of my dwarf’s downtime activities is running his smith shop. He will forge weapons for the party and armor if he has time. (I think 300 days to forge plate armor is ridiculous but thankfully the DM let’s it take % off based on a d100 roll) crafting gear is a great downtime activity and a good way to fund your next adventure.
The rules for crafting items is updated in Xanathar's Guide. A suit of 1500 gp plate armor takes 30 workweeks (1500 / 50) to create. A large item, like plate armor, can allow multiple people to work on it, with DM's discretion. Each person contributes to the time for creation, dividing creation time by number of crafters. Page 128, Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
*sings* You're going to need a montage (montage!) Even Rocky had a montage!
I never thought I'd live in a time where Team America quotes would contain more wisdom than the average news report.
@@mattk6719 Welcome to 2020.
~ Anytime you need to show a little bit of improvement, you're gonna need a montage! (Montage!)~
Always fade out in a montage...
“...or maybe *try some crime* “
Ah yes, my preferred downtime activity irl
It's almost like you knew I'm about to run a bridge session from Dragon Heist to Rime of the Frost Maiden.
🤔 🤨 😐
16:43 Kelly looks like he did not expect Monty to break out Roleplay
Every time a new video of you guys is out, im hyped for dnd 🥳
This
Thanks for the good advice in this video.
Downtime is so essential. Dont be afraid of spending a whole game session just doing downtime stuff.
The awarding of Feats as a form of treasure is a great idea assuming like you mentioned that they are the less often taken ones and wont be game breaking and they are awarded as a party.
You released this at the perfect time for me, as I am about to re-launch a campaign that's been on hiatus for about six weeks due to scheduling challenges.
I am now fully going to use the idea that the players did things while on the hiatus to account for the downtime. This refresher on the downtime concept was super helpful as someone who's only just come back to DND in the last 2 years, who went right into being the forever DM with all brand new players.
After not playing for almost 20 years and not having veterans around to help, content like this really helps me fill in the gaps and get better as a DM when I had mostly been a PC growing up!
This is a great episode, Dudes. Clear ways to engage underutilized mechanics to create interesting stories. Will absolutely use this at my table. Good use of my Patreon dollars! :-)
So here’s the problem: I want more subclass ranking and Tasha’s highlight videos. But then this video comes out, and it’s a topic that I’ve been talking about with my party and DM, so I’m hooked. So many great and relevant videos!
Protagonist having their own adventure within a span of 3 weeks.
Me: "How tf are they not exhausted?!"
In the ancient proverbial words of Mr. Bean:
"Magic *snort snort* "
If you can regenerate punctured lungs and liver in 8 hour sleep, anything is possible.
Indeed, but eventually you start thinking like that and you DO take breaks to enforce some realism on the game... and to psuh your personal agenda forward :)
Always glad to see a new vid from the Dungeon Dudes!
At the beginning of my ongoing campaign, the town that the party formed in was hosting their annual summer solstice festival. During the festival, the party found carnival games that when won awarded a minor magic item (ex. Staff of Flowers) and food stands. There was even a bonfire jumping competition, that took a few dex rolls that increased in difficulty as the fire burned higher. I researched some irl summer festivals for inspiration, the festival was also dedicated to celebrating the party who saved the town from corrupt pirates, the previous day
I ran a home brew 2e campaign for close to 30 years and wanted to take a step back and tried being a PC for a change, which is also a great way to learn 5e.
Watching your videos has been an amazing boon to help me grasp and really appreciate what 5e has to offer, especially from a player perspective.
Fantastic job fellas!
I am in similar shoes having run AD&D from the late 70's up until the 2010's :D. I am a little uncomfortable with the 'billion sub-classes' min-maxing power-gamer atmosphere in 5e but the simplification and rationalisation of combat buffs and so forth in the new system is intriguing. Plus there is an upside to the vaguely 'super hero' feel to it all in that a couple of players have a prayer of making a go of being a 'party' without having to play a pair of characters each with the DM filling in any skill blanks with NPC's. Still not convinced that it is better than AD&D mind you ... only a bit of experience will answer that question ... ... ...
@@dallassukerkin6878 yeah I am still adjusting to it as there is a lot to absorb. In terms of the min-maxing mindset I always emphasize the importance of role playing with my group and the point of playing the game in the first place. I hate it when people focus on the meta and I encourage diversity and try and implement rules to support that.
I do remind players that the DM can always 'outgun' these min-maxing kids if they wanted to...of course we are supposed to be a neutral entity, not a nemesis of the PC.
I'll give it avotu 6 months of DM'ing before I pass judgement and if I go back to 2e the group is cool with that.
God this is a gem. I will go back to this video often, I can feel it.
Dear lord please keep doing the subclass ranking series. We wanna see rogue. This is the first time I’ve ever been anticipating a TH-cam series of any kind.
Adventure 1: My Character says that he wants a girlfriend.
*Downtime*
Adventure 2: "I come with you! This Orcs have captured my daughter!!".
Looks like he didn't waste his time.
Anton Grigoryev no, he didn't.
But it was a big surprise for the rest of the Party. They knew him as the hopeless romantic, not as a responsible father. It was a nice character.
15:22 Kelly’s reaction!!!
But downtime is something that has been overlooked in many campaigns, IMO.
I played a hot headed monk that were sent to a monastery by his family to be wiser. In the beggining of the adventure he still was hot headed and due to that got rekt in many moments only cause he acted without thinking. When we got 3 months of downtime and everyone was doing meaningful things I said my monk was going to a place where it could meditate for about 2 months, to think about what happened in adventure. I didn't gain nothing out of that downtime but I started a little change in my character. He was a bit wiser after this meditation (not as wise as most monks but at least now he could think in consequenses. But it still was a very emotion driven person), thinking in how many times he put his party on only cause he was "childish" and couldn't think in the consequenses. So what I am trying to say is you could use this time to change a bit of the roleplaying aspect of your character, particularly if there is something u are not liking.
I really like the trick of having downtime prepared in case my encounters / adventures end earlier than intended. My last session, I expected the dungeon to take most of our time that day. They managed to resolve an encounter that intended to take roughly an hour in not even a few minutes with some lucky rolls.
We got back to town, I had some hooks, shops, and city history prepared for them. That stuff is pretty much going to remain relevant, and I can fill the backlog in as they use stuff up.
Conjure an Elemental and fight it for experience. The text for the spell even states that if you lose concentration, the Elemental will become hostile. Starting with Minor Elementals of CR2, my party went from level 7 to level 20 in about a game year of down time.
Nobody's here?!? Hold my almost endless collection of dice
all great advices.
i manage "downtime" distinctly according to the tier of play
first: just bits of downtime after each adventure, where the players could replenish wares, and upgrade their gears, rest . ( and lvl up. i use downtime for lvling )
second now that they have done something they start getting noticed, i give them a few weeks. during them, they are invited to parties ceremonies, events, etc. i use this time for the party to know the big NPCs and they start to know the power factions of the place where they are at.
third: they are heroes now, they got responsibilities, some titles, lands, strongholds, tutelage over a small village , or something like that, and now they need to start administering things. ( by spending time, money and do some kind of management. ) downtime start being measured in months and they can learn new things, build things. etc.
forth: their influence is great and reach far, their towns became cities, their temples receive pelegrins. the pc spent their downtime building magic powerful items, extending their influence, waging wars, researching stuff,etc. This tier measure their downtimes in years at a time
fifth: i must admit i only use this tier for special occasions, so in fact, downtime here is "the standard" : everything was fine until ... (the Fire Nation Attacked) ..
One of your best videos ever. This is why you guys are my favorite D&D channel. I'll definitely be using this as guidelines for planning my upcoming months to a year of downtime for my campaign.
My group in downtime literally do the session by themselves, I almost don't have to play, I just put faces and voices, and is GORGEOUS having players like these.
This is exactly what I needed, I’m a new DM and my players have 2 weeks of down time (one week being on a ship and week 2 being in the capital with lots of opportunities)
PS: you all make amazing content
Thank you!
@@DungeonDudes hey I was also curious about the topic of consequence yet still being fair, I have the classic rogue in my party stealing everything. Was curious how I should handle that (they have stole a lot) but I don’t want to just execute the player or throw them away in jail and have them miss out!
@@rjdavis9809 Turn it into a quest. The rogue's thievery has impressed a mighty criminal overlord or a dastardly noble who has some... ulterior motives and interesting connections. This person comes to the player with an offer... they can wipe away the PCs criminal record... and protect their future indiscretions, if they complete on an incredibly dangerous heist which has some pretty questionable implications (like stealing a holy artifact, or the Crown Jewels, or something crazy which somehow fits into your overall story). If they refuse... well... then they'll have to face the consequences on their own!
@@DungeonDudes thank you so much for the idea I have planned a heist
Great video. I'm glad you mentioned Xanathar's. Additionally, there are some great downtime resources on the DM's Guild as well that I find super useful. I absolutely love the concept of downtime and I use it often with my players.
This was perfect timing. The group I DM is about to start their second adventure tomorrow night. I had been planning for it to start the next day (that’s how my DM who got me started on DND did it), but I love the idea of giving them a few days of downtime.
Great timing on this topic! My one group is just coming to the end of Lost Mine of Phandelver, and then going to have about a year of downtime before they get called back to Phandalin for some of the events of Dragon of Icespire Peak. Very interested to see what they decide to do with their time off, assuming they all make it out of the mine alive.
These "general tips" are your best kind of content, thank you for your contributions!
In fieldwork, our short (day to days) downtime is called "town days", and spent shopping, taking showers, buying gear, sleeping, etc. Longer downtime (months) involves planning next season's work.
I keep my downtime in two vague buckets: actual between adventure time, usually days or weeks; and time skips which span at least a year. Although in my next campaign I’m not sure I will even use a time skip despite their narrative usefulness.
i havent finished the video but i am on your patreon and I already know Ill love this video so thank you guys for the awesome content.
Thank you for making this video guys- its such an important aspect of D&D that no one seems to be talking about! Very thorough and informative, as usual. Rock on Dungeon Dudes!!
I just love the beginning of the intro and that you guys also almost couldn't keep it together :D
Funny you post this because my campaign group just had a downtime sesh ourselves. We are running an evil campaign and after hiding and running our group was finally able to capture a city and gain the trust of the people. Now we had to rebuild the city. I think our DM handled it pretty well, as he split the PCs into groups of two to handle either surveillance, politics, training (of new soldiers) and rebuilding the city and economy (or which my Lore Bard was in charge of because bardic inspiration babyyy - and because I had the artisan backgrounf which made me pretty handy dandy.) What our DM did was talk to each grouo individually in between two sessions to coordinate what had happened. Some groups hopped into the voice chat while others did it over text and by the next sesh we were set and ready to go. I especially like how he added challenges into rebuilding the city and intertwining our interactions. For example, the training group asked for weqpons and training dummies and so I had to order the people to build wooden training weapons, go mining, and build a forge.
I just got to see this video, but the first minute of the Intro says all that needs to be said about this year, and it gave me a (much needed) hearty laugh as I finally relax during this weekend!!!
When I was younger, I came across a game called RoleMaster. Everything was a matter of learning skills. "I practice knife throwing after we setup camp and ate dinner." Long trip? Improve you riding skill... Work on your performance skills by trying you hand at singing in the Tavern.
Rolemaster, that is a name I have not heard in many years....
But in seriousness, it was an interesting system with robust tables. But sadly the group that played it dissolved. I have a large number of the books, but they were borrowed and could never get back in contact with the guy I borrowed them from. Oh well...
This video came at EXACTLY the right time for me. I'm a new DM, basically working with a small group of friends, and we are about to go into our first bit of downtime in the new campaign. Especially the idea of training for new skills and subclasses, it makes those feel earned, and that makes the players feel invested. Thanks again, Dungeon Dudes!
If my kobold artificer had enough downtime, she would probably just spend it practicing her craft by creating a bunch of common and uncommon magic items. A year or more of downtime? She would eventually carve out a den for herself underneath the city and load it up with traps and surveillance systems.
The DM in one of my campaigns does the 'lets you earn lesser taken feats in downtime' and I took Linguist for my City Watch Goliath who, with the city full of various refugees from not only all over the world but several different planes, has learnt several new languages so he can better assist those refugees in their own native tongues if they have trouble speaking common. So now he can speak like 9 different languages (Common, Giant (form being a Goliath) Abyssal (learned in a seperate downtime event), Orc, Goblin (from his City watch background), Celestial, Primordial and Undercommon (from his Linguist feat) AND Thieves Cant from a level in Rogue).
Yeah, allowing some of the non-combat, support feats can be nice because players just aren't willing to sacrifice ASI's and be permanently weaker for them. Having one of them tied to background is another option. E.g. maybe your Cleric started out working in a town clinic and thus has the Healer feat and can use Healer's Kits to restore health outside of combat.
Pathfinder: I know that downtime for a party of PC's is a good time for the wizard to spend resources for crafting, while the rest of the party prepare for the next sequence of events of the campaign. Downtime is good for retraining characters too that requires time and effort. Another thing about character downtime is using that Profession skill check for player interaction with the GM's world and income. I love the montage thought that you offered. To summarize the choices that the PC does during downtime is great for montage theory.
You guys are by far my favorite content creators on this site I wish you could make a new video every day
So happy to see you guys together again! TO THE DUNGEON!
Great advice guys. My group is heading into a very long downtime after an epic campaign. I will definitely be using some of these ideas. Thank you!
Always love the videos, Dudes. I think one important thing to include is significant choice. Allow the players options that fit the amount of time, but provide more beneficial/crucial things than there is time to do them all. For example: do you train on the griffins or brew the healing potions or research the enemy's strategies? The Angry GM had a good article on downtime this week, too.
The fact that Kelly’s mustache is gone is perhaps the biggest loss of 2020...
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed 😥
I've only been watching them for about 6ish weeks now, and the one consistent is that his beard situation is constantly changing. As a bearded gentleman, it drives me a little mental haha!
They had a falling out, the moustache split and now has it's own channel.
I prefer the whole beard to the stash.
24:50 It was pre-adventure for a higher level campaign, but could have been during a month downtime - I used Nystul's Magical Aura to turn some of my magic equipment into magic-less in appearance, a few other items into appearing magical, and my Tabaxi Arcana Cleric to appear as the Draconic creature type. Casting the spell every day for 30 days makes it permanent. It was a fun quirk :P
This video... this video should be liked more than once! Happy New Year D-dudes!
As a gm I love the story telling elements of downtime and trying to get my players more interested in downtime has been awesome! Thanks for the great tips and content. Fantastic job Dungeon dudes!
I know this video came out years ago but it popped up right as I needed it. My campaign is currently taking a short hiatus and we’re gonna come back to some character downtime. I’m excited to implement this stuff :))
Honestly this video was perfectly timed! I just finished the first arc of my homebrew campaign and running a session of downtime is exactly what the campaign needs right now. Thank you!
You guys are awesome!!
Your content is hellish good (pun intended here), your subjects are totally reliable and your delivery is perfectly informative and interesting!!! Thank you so much for your videos!!!!
I don't usually comments on videos, but you guys are totally worth saying how good you are!! 🤩👌
Thank you 😊
Downtime is a rather interesting thing. My players do not really use downtime at all. They generally like the idea of having a quest, getting a ton of loot and killing stuff. Puzzles thrown in a few times and they are happy. I have added using their back stories after they have gained a few levels to give them players for "skin" in the game and want to invest the story. I find tying in their backgrounds into the game makes them want to add to the story and the world overall.
Thank you for doing these videos, Dudes, they are fun, informative and well made :D
Great Video! Matt Colville came out with a video adding a twist to downtime in that he does it online, through facebook messenger or something. This adds a fun aspect of doing something on your own as a character and being able to come back to the table with new stories to tell. I think if you mix his video with this video then you have everything you need for great downtime play.
The end of waterdeep: dragon heist presents a great opportunity to run the new tavern that you gain the deed for during the adventure.
Spoilers.....
@@nikuhotzel2677 you literally get the tavern after the first chapter and they didn’t even said what happens before the adventurers get the tavern or who gives it so not much of a spoil honestly.
I had a nice mix of travel-downtime when a former pirate turned folk hero of a port town escorted the party to and from a volcanic island. Level 20 Fighter-Rogue mix with some talented crew that over time gave the party good excuses to fish, talk, get a little practice in.
Bard - Free Martial Adept feat when he's busy begrudgingly granting flanking for advantage.
Ranger - Half of the Skulker feat's benefits since he only did half of his training
Fighter - +1 to Wisdom for lots of time practicing the captain's ways of meditation
Even as a DM it made the world feel a bit more alive to have the lengthy interactions.
This was great, thanks!
I like using down time for my players to re-establish connections with recurring npcs. (often in their familiar tavern) And to have mini quests, like finding the bar keeps lost cat etc. something light-hearted that still gives them a chance to roll dice and use their skills
This is very solid advice and a good mechanical structure for doing so at the table. The "Describe-Present-Conclude" framework is intuitive, simple, and something I haven't seen anywhere else. Thanks very much!
I've actually required downtime at my table as a prerequisite to levelling up (so in order to level up, you had to go back to town and relax for a while), since I found my players kept wanting to push outwards and constantly go on quests. It works well about half the time. I recommend not scaling the time required by level, as it murders pacing, and using the Dudes' suggestion of taking longer breaks between each tier of play.
I don't see very many internet DMs talking about downtime, and I always think that's a waste. A lot of great adventure hooks can come out of downtime, as well as building rivalries, reinforcing tensions, and occasionally even "zooming in" and playing through a particular moment in downtime between sessions as a 1:1 with the player.
I gave about 1 year downtime for my player between the events of Lost Mines of Phandelver and Descent Into Avernus.
It was a cool way to bind them to Baldur Gate. Each of them stayed on a different part of the city and received the feature from the backgrounds described in Descent Into Avernus and related to the activities they did during this year.
One player made his own beer brand that got very popular around the town. Now everytime he enters a tavern he is welcomed by everyone and the owner offers a 2 for 1 of HolyShit (the name of the beer) for all costumer.
In second edition a group i was in ran a berry based potion business from a wagon, and once a month my druid had to fly to his grove and use plant growth, and for our longest down time break, me and the rouge went on a solo journey with me being the land mount and flying off when needed and it was nice being able to really travel during down time
Great vid guys, thx heaps! This dropped just as I was thinking to do this with my players, in my campaign, at a natural chapter end and level 8 - nice!
We always ran downtime between sessions as seperate played or written encounters with just the DM and one person, because we all split up during downtime to do our own thing... so we all came back the next session and nobody knew what the others did. Some told, some didn't and it was a success in our games.
Dudes! That was good. Thank you for the content! You’ve given me a great idea for my next session.
Literally was just thinking about how I needed help on this for my session. I always appreciate a video from you guys especially dealing with DM tips, thank you guys so much 🙏🏾
Could you go into detail of other passive, specific downtime activities? Like drinking games (I've had to improvise chugging contests, kegstands, and more just during LMoP), gambling, crafting equipment, and who gets frightened by campfire stories. I think the hardest part is coming up with NPCs and backgrounds for them while they are just chatting.
The party in my game amassed a significant chunk of cash and so, using the Strongholds & Followers book, we've built a nice little stronghold for ourselves and the followers we've amassed.
My past group has spent entire sessions on down time in town. We enjoy the role play aspects, building relationships, developing skills, and of course shopping. We often add in background info on our characters and pull in plot hooks the we can follow later. We have also had entire sessions built around a battle so it balances out. I enjoy the mixture of role play and battle that dnd can bring.
+1 to offering the niche feats. It is a great way to blow downtime. I use ability checks and a d100 to determine how long in downtime the available training options take in my campaigns myself and find that it gives PCs a chance to make new allies and new possible rivals and such.
Also remember that while characters are taking down time, the villains are advancing their plans as well. Passed an orc raiding party and didn't engage them... maybe they destroyed a nearby village. Do the characters feel guilty for not having stopped the orcs? Does the big bad move closer to their ultimate goals?
good ideas and advice !! downtime is for the DM, too! i like making PCs (and NPCs) age accordingly and come back with new perspective - - some groups like to maintain contact during downtime, using whatever group chat or message board is convenient, without pressure to perform in schedules
My DM told me YESTERDAY that we have downtime. This timing is hilarious and couldn't be more perfect lmao
Damned, no nicknames in the intro ! I always enjoy them
Same I those were great!
My bad! They will be back, that was an accident.
Monty "Researching" Martin and Kelly "Carousing" McLaughlin.
In almost all groups I've ever played, I don't have any memory of any downtime spent over a couple in-game days. But as DM, I love giving downtime to creatively justify giving my players more boons and buffs. Thanks for the vid!
Coming upon downtime in my campaign. I'm a new DM, and this was very helpful. Thanks.
I did something like the "training to improve something" RP via downtime in my campaign. My barbarian hit level 12 and since we were facing a lot of big bads that had spells that challenged my wisdom saves, I decided to take the Resilient Wisdom feat. Each mission between level 11 and 12(four missions for our campaign) I RPed out in a side session with the other players(our campaign is a little different than most and we have over 30 players) and each helped my character in different ways strengthen my mind against spells that attacked my mind. Our monks RPed teaching my character how to meditate during my rage. Our spellcasters took turns casting spells that attacked my wis saves. Eventually the DM brought in an NPC to finish off the training and cast a spell similar to Phantasmal Killer. I either passed the DC or would die trying to overcome my own mental limitations. I was restrained magically and made to face his deepest fears. I had the feat by the time the NPC showed up, but I had to roll a DC 20 wis save with only a +3 wis save. Seeing everyone coming together to RP over the course of multiple side sessions was some of the most fun I've ever had in D&D. His next downtime activities are going to be spent researching the location of his father's greataxe that has been missing for 30 years. This will lead to a sort of "capstone" mission for him that the DM is putting together for me.
Every so often, like after a big battle or when my players are ending a session in a town I will ask them to write up a 1 pg or so synopsis of what they did while we were away. I ask for them to send me what they've written a few days before the next session. I use their ideas to build my montage, but also reward my players for their involvement. An ability increase, feat, skill, item, bit of knowledge/history/lore, something that they can use, but it also helps to really develop a relationship with the characters and the players to help find what they find rewarding by getting to be a fly on the wall while they live their lives. We did not assign alignment at creation but we use these times to assess and slide alignments. I feel it's been such a success using this exercise, especially after our session zero!
This was a great video, thanks guys
Im currently running a campaign where the party takes every day as a serioud thing, constantly asking for time and stuff like that. And after 3-5 days of doing missions or traveling the party always takes a day at our main adopted home town we safes a few times. Its kinda like a beachside condo with a bunch of retired adventurers with their families, and the party just likes to hang out. Sometimes they are swaping stories with some of the heroes, sometimes they go fishing or swimming, one time a character was asked to watch one of the hero's kids while they were out of town so i turned that day into a home alone episode! But the party is trying to be reasonable with the adventuring and we all enjoy slice of life shows so this kinda feels like our home away from home.
I really like the downtime additions in the Kobold Press Heroes Handbook!!
Great explanation & guidelines -- thanks Dudes!
Glad it was helpful!
I wish I knew about downtime activity "Recuperating" at the very beginning of our groups campaign last January. 2nd session my character got the diseased by a Death Dog. The next 2 sessions were a mad dash to Waterdeep to find me a cure..., that ended up being nearly one roll away from killing my character.
I had to admit there are certain types of downtime activity that can take place while traveling, provided you have the right person along on the trip. For example, you can learn a language from someone and walk to the next town at the same time. The caveats were (1) you needed someone who could teach it -- in the case of a language, this could be another party member, and (2) you could only ever attain 50% of the total time investment this way. You still needed to read some books in true downtime to fully gain the language, but just chatting with your party in that language all day could shave months off the process. If the "expert" has sufficient tools on hand, which may include books, then you could surpass 50%. This also worked for skills that could conceivably be taught at a campfire, like basic woodcarving.
The original reason was that we had a party that spoke only Common as their common tongue, and there was a lot of utility in knowing Sylvan, so the ranger ended up teaching the rest of the party Sylvan, complete with having to make a journey to buy grade school level textbooks to complete their basic proficiency.
Sometimes the elf ranger would spend his extra four hours per long rest making stuff out of the leftovers of the day. He particularly liked making things out of leftover food tins, and I figured everyone had a tin of something in their daily rations, so he might convert a regular lantern into a bullseye using a couple days' worth of scrap metal, or make a few throwing daggers that were single-use. It seemed like a reasonable way for someone to pass an extra four hours a night.
Your videos like these need to be in podcast form so I have something to listen to at work.
Gave my group the ruins of trensendar manor as a home reno option. TheY went to Neverwinter to find a company that specializes in this sort of project. Turned it into a home reno show situation lol