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Part 6: Adventuring   ☰

Downtime

Time to Unwind

Downtime is an important part of adventuring. Characters can use their free time to heal and recover from wounds (both physical and mental), craft equipment, brew concoctions, gather information, or simply carouse to their heart’s content. These things may go as planned, or complications and obstacles can arise. Given here are a list of sample activities and how they may turn out, from making money to making enemies. Each of the activities presented can be performed over the course of a day’s rest, and the tables for each activity assume the entire day has been spent doing that activity.



If a party member knows how to perform alchemy, they can use their downtime to brew concoctions or enchant items, provided they have the proper funds, time, and materials.

They can also spend their time gathering Alchemy Ingredients, which can be done using alchemy supplies or an herbalism kit. Over the course of a day's rest, the number of ingredients gathered is equal to an Alchemy Supplies/Herbalism Kit check divided by 10 (rounded appropriately, up if half, minimum 1); during a night's rest, the number of ingredients gathered is equal to half that. This is all assuming, of course, that you are in an area where such ingredients can be found.


Carousing is an umbrella term that refers to any hedonistic and/or pleasurable activities that do not (usually) produce any material results or actively work towards any of the party’s goals. You can pick from the following list, roll, or come up with your own activity to decide which your character does with their free time. The Cost list determines how much money your character lost in doing their chosen activity. Both of these lists assume only one day has passed, but that does not necessarily need to be the case. The last table need only be rolled on once, to determine what consequence, if any, your carousing has had on your life.
Activities
d10 Activity
1-2 Drinking
3-4 Partying
5-6 Fornicating
7-8 Feasting
9-10 Touring
Cost
d10 Money Lost
1 1 Aeon
2 1 Aeon + 1d100 change
3 1d3 Aeons
4 1d4 Aeons + 2d100 change
5 1d6 Aeons
6 1d6 Aeons + 3d100 change
7 1d8 Aeons
8 1d8 Aeons + 4d100 change
9 1d10 Aeons
10 1d10 Aeons + 5d100 change
Resolution
d20 Development
1-10 Nothing unusual happens.
11 You get into a fight and are banned from where you got into it.
12 You get 2d6 Aeons pickpocketed off your person.
13 You anger a local aristocrat, making them less receptive or forgiving to your party’s antics.
14 You have a run-in with a local gang and are now a minor enemy of theirs.
15 You become infected with a disease of the GM’s choice.
16 You commit a misdemeanor and serve 1d6 days in jail.
17 You win 1d6 Aeons in a bet.
18 You become friends with a local official who is now willing to grant a small favor.
19 You become friends with a merchant who is more willing to give small discounts on their wares.
20 You become friends with a bartender or innkeeper, who is willing to give you and your party free drinks, food, and/or lodging for 1d3 nights.


Passing the time doing charity simply means you are choosing to help others less fortunate than yourself using whatever means you are both willing and able. You can pick from the following table, roll, or come up with an activity to decide what your character does during their free time. The table thereafter determines the monetary cost of your activity, if any, and the final table gives a list of possible consequences for your activities. The first two lists assume only a day has passed while the last need only be rolled on once regardless of how long you were giving charity.
Activities
d6 Activity
1 Feeding the hungry
2 Donating money
3 Building shelter
4 Giving medical aid
5 Manual labor
6 Giving religious sermon(s)
Cost
d8 Money Lost
1-4 None
5 5d10 change
6 10d10 change
7 1d4 Aeons
8 1d6 Aeons
Resolution
d12 Development
1-6 Nothing unusual happens.
7 Several people are grateful for your help, and you gain 3d100 change as a token of their appreciation.
8 You are paid 1d4 Aeons for your service.
9 You gain the favor of a local aristocrat, making them more amicable or forgiving to your party’s antics.
10 The local homeless, urchins, and other vagrants know of your service, and are willing to perform one minor favor for you at your request.
11 The people you help are willing to give you and your party a place to stay for free and/or free meals for 1d4 days.
12 A local aristocrat looks down on your service, causing you to lose favor with them.


Though crafting is a downtime activity, it is so complex and detailed that it requires its own chapter.


Sometimes, the best way to pass the time is with a good heist. Burning down a rival’s safehouse, robbing some greedy merchant blind, or perhaps assassinating a troublesome official – nothing pays quite like crime, does it? Given here is a list of sample crimes that you can do during your downtime, as well as a possible punishment if you are caught or reward if you succeed. Each table assumes your crime takes only a day, however if a major crime or heist is part of your group’s campaign or something they decide to spend their downtime on collectively, it is recommended you roleplay the heist and take the time to make detailed and dedicated plans amongst yourselves, as that is part of your group’s story and not something your character is doing on their own to pass the time.
Crimes
d10 Crime Punishment Reward
1-2 Murder 1d10 years of prison/hard labor 2d100 change
3-4 Arson 1d10 years of prison/hard labor None
5-6 Pickpocketing 1d6 months of prison/hard labor 4d100 change
7-8 Burglary 1d4 years of prison/hard labor 2d8 Aeons
9-10 Smuggling 2d12 months of prison/hard labor 1d6 Aeons
Result
d8 Succeeded? Caught?
1 No No
2-3 No Yes
4-6 Yes No
7-8 Yes Yes


Gambling is a great way for a character to pass their free time, and possibly increase their and the party’s funds – or play them all away in one unlucky roll of the dice. Given here are some sample gambling activities, and the odds you may win or lose. On the Result table, you may add your INT or WIS score (but not both) and your Gaming Set (Cards/Dice) proficiency, if it applies.
Activities
d6 Gambles
1 A game of cards
2 A game of dice
3 Animal fighting
4 Sentient fighting
5 Races
6 Sporting event
Result
d20 + INT/WIS
+ GS prof.
Winnings
<2 You lose 2d10 Aeons
3-4 You lose 2d6 Aeons
5-6 You lose 1d10 Aeons
7-8 You lose 1d6 Aeons
9-13 You break even
14-15 You win 1d6 Aeons
16-17 You win 1d10 Aeons
18-19 You win 2d6 Aeons
>20 You win 2d10 Aeons


Theatrically/musically-inclined characters can choose to perform for the masses, using their natural talents and/or instruments to pass the time and earn some cash. When performing this activity, simply make a Beguilement check, then refer to the table below to see what the result of your performance is; if you are performing with a musical instrument, make a check with that instrument and add that to the total result.
Result
Beg. (+ M.I.) Result
<5 Booed off stage
6-10 3d10 change
11-20 1d100 change
21-30 2d100 change
31-40 1d3 Aeons + 2d100 change
41-50 1d6 Aeons + 3d100 change
>51 1d8 Aeons + 4d100 change


Characters who want to keep their edge during their downtime, who seek to satiate their bloodlust with some sport and dust their knuckles with a bit of fisticuffs can choose to fight in the pits of whatever locale the party is in (assuming there are pits to fight in). In some places this is legal, with rules and safety procedures – in other places, sweaty Sentients with shattered noses and swollen eyes bludgeon each other to within an inch of their lives in the basement of the seediest bar in town.

When pit fighting, roll and add your STR/DEX score once on each of the following tables to determine the results for the day. Elemancers must fight other Elemancers and must add their Elemancy proficiency to the roll instead of their STR/DEX score.
Results
d20 + STR/DEX/AP + Level Fight Toll
<5 Your Health is reduced to 1.
6-10 You lose 75% of your Health.
11-19 You lose 50% of your Health.
20-24 You lose 25% of your Health.
25-29 You lose 10% of your Health.
>30 You lose 1 Health.
Result
d20 + STR/DEX/AP Winnings
<2 You lose 1d6 Aeons + 2d100 change.
5-6 You lose 1d4 Aeons + 5d10 change.
7-8 You lose 1d2 Aeons + 3d10 change.
9-10 You lose 2d100 change.
11-15 You break even.
16-17 You win 2d100 change.
18-19 You win 1d2 Aeons + 3d10 change.
20-21 You win 1d4 Aeons + 5d10 change.
>22 You win 1d6 Aeons + 2d100 change.


Reading is one method through which a character can increase their proficiency in a given Action or Tool Skill. Not all skills can be increased via reading, nor can a skill always be increased solely by reading - improvement takes practice, after all - and your GM has final say over which skills can be improved this way and by how much.

When reading, a character must read a number of books pertaining to the relevant skill equal to 1+their proficiency in that skill; assume a single book takes 3d12 hours to read.


Studious characters may wish to spend their time gaining knowledge on their foes, quarry, objectives, or whatever else interests them. What exactly you learn about your subject is up to your GM, and to determine how much you learn, roll 1d10 to determine the cost (in Aeons) of your research, then roll once on the following table and add your Lore proficiency.
Result
d20 + Lore Research Outcome
<3 You learn nothing.
4-5 You learn 1 minor fact about your research subject.
6-8 You learn 2 minor facts about your research subject.
9-12 You learn 1 major fact about your research subject.
13-15 You learn 1 major and 1 minor facts about your research subject.
16-17 You learn 1 major and 2 minor facts about your research subject.
18-20 You learn 2 major facts about your research subject.
21-23 You learn 2 major and 1 minor facts about your research subject.
>24 You learn 2 major and 2 minor facts about your research subject.


Much like reading, training allows a character to increase their proficiency with any Action or Tool Skill of their choice, or to learn a classless feat. For proficiency in a skill to increase by 1, a character must spend 15 days and 15d3 Aeons (1d3/day) training that skill, assuming they are paying someone who is better in that skill to train them, though the trainer can teach them the skill for free if they so desire.

To learn a classless feat, a character must spend 90 days and 90d3 Aeons (1d3/day) learning that feat, assuming they are paying someone who knows the feat to teach them it, though someone who knows the feat can train the character for free if they so desire.

The time and money spent does not all need to be done at once, but if the time training is broken up, you must keep track of the amount of time you’ve dedicated to your training.

A character can also train without spending money (i.e. on their own), though this takes twice as long.


Some characters may wish to work their time away doing odd jobs, and in so doing earn some pocket cash. Given here is a list of sample work activities that your character can spend the day doing, as well as a table of their possible earnings. You can roll or pick from the first table or make up your own activity, but you must roll on the second table and add your CHA score.
Activities
d6 Odd Job
1 Cleaning/Organizing
2 Construction
3 Entertaining
4 Event security
5 Manual labor
6 Unloading cargo
Wages
d20 + CHA Earnings
<5 3d10 change
6-9 6d10 change
10-13 10d10 change
14-17 1 Aeon
18-20 1d2 Aeons
21-23 1d3 Aeons
>24 1d4 Aeons