Downtime Activities

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When characters find themselves with a lot of free time, they can spend this time in a number of ways, both constructive and otherwise.

Short-Term activities are those that can be, in theory, completed in a relatively short amount of time. They grant a more immediate benefit, though typically don't grant advantages as strong as long-term options.

A character who knows spells may spend their downtime scribing spell scrolls, allowing them to access some spells with greater frequency, though at increased cost and less potency. To scribe a scroll, a character must know a spell and have it prepared, as well as expend resources equal in value to half the cost of the scroll they want to scribe. Any material components used in the spell being scribed must also be provided at the time it is scribed.

The scroll then takes 2 hours to scribe per spell level, and this time can be split across multiple days. A spell can be scribed into a scroll at a higher level, but requires an investment of both time and money at the new spell level. Any spell scribed into a scroll uses the default values for Spell Save DCs and Spell Attack Rolls, rather than those of the individual who scribed them.

A character with proficiency in Alchemist's Supplies is able to brew potions, using time and raw ingredients to create valuable elixirs. Brewing a potion requires raw ingredients equal to half the finished potion's value. The below table details the time it takes to brew a single potion, depending upon its rarity. A character with expertise in Alchemist's supplies can brew potions in half this time.

Additionally, a character may attempt to make potions in batches, using the same time to brew additional potions. When they do so, they expend resources for a number of potions equal to the batch size below, and make an Intelligence (Alchemist's Supplies) or Wisdom (Alchemist's Supplies) check against the difficulty below.

On a successful check, the character brews a full batch of potions. On a failed check, the character wastes the resources of the additional potion, though they are still able to brew a single successful one. If the character is interrupted for more than 10 minutes while brewing a potion, and no other proficient character is able to take over, the resources are lost and no potion is brewed.

Potion Rarity	Time to Brew	Batch Difficulty	Batch Size
Common	2 Hours	DC 10	6 Potions
Uncommon	4 Hours	DC 15	4 Potions
Rare	6 Hours	DC 20	3 Potions
Very Rare	8 Hours	DC 25	2 Potions

As magic items can be quite expensive, it's often not the easiest time to find a buyer willing to pay the full price for them. Assuming a settlement has somebody with the money to pay for the item, the character can find a buyer with a single day of downtime, who will buy the item at the percentage of its base price listed below.

However, with enough time, a character can find a more interested buyer if one exists within the current settlement. Each day of downtime increases the amount of money that a player will receive when choosing to sell the item, as shown in the table below. An item cannot exceed the local value of the item, though this may be higher than 100% of base price.

The character may also attempt to be more aggressive in pursuing leads on buyers to potentially increase this percentage faster. A character may make either a Charisma (Persuasion) or Intelligence (Investigation) check against the DCs below to find a more suitable buyer. A successful check doubles the rate of progress for the day, while a failed check halves it.

Item Rarity	Starting Percent	Percent per Day	Buyer DC
Common	80%	20%	DC 10
Uncommon	60%	20%	DC 25
Rare	55%	15%	DC 20
Very Rare	40%	10%	DC 25
Legendary	20%	5%	DC 30

Some activities a player can take require a larger investment of time to see results, but can grant stronger benefits.

A character can attempt to craft a magical item in their downtime. In order to do so, they require ingredients equal to half the cost of the item they wish to craft, and they must have proficiency in a tool or kit relevant to creating the item. For example, if a character wants to forge a magic longsword, they must be proficient in Smith's Tools.

The character must spend a number of hours crafting the magic item equal to a quarter of the item's base price in gold pieces. At the end of this time, they make a checks with the relevant tool based upon the rarity of the item they are creating, as shown in the table below.

On a successful check, the item is successfully created. On a failed check, they fail to craft the item, and the time spent in the attempt is wasted. A character may assist with creating the item, granting the crafter advantage on the final roll, if they devote their time to assisting and are also proficient in a relevant tool or kit.

Item Rarity	Craft DC
Common	DC 10
Uncommon	DC 15
Rare	DC 20
Very Rare	DC 25
Legendary	DC 30

Characters can spend downtime honing their skills, and gaining new abilities that are not tied directly to levelling up. All abilities a character may gain as a result of downtime training are detailed in the Talent Tree Guide.

Rules for Training

Training Example 1

Red decides to learn alchemy, so that he can brew potions for the party at a cheaper price. He decides to start training the Jack of Trades talent (Apprenticeship, Page 18) with a focus on Alchemist Supplies to brew the potions, Herbalism Kits so that he can ask John to invent rules for harvesting potion ingredients from nature, and Glassblower's Tools so that he can also make the bottles to hold the potions.

Jack of Trades is a Tier 1 Talent, so Red needs 450 skill points to learn the ability. His party is about to take a 6-day non-stop airship ride, so he decides to use the time to learn these abilities. Potion brewing is based on Wisdom or Intelligence, and with a modifier of 0 in both attributes, Red doesn't have a natural aptitude for it.

Red thinks ahead, and decides to hire an alchemist who can teach him on the ride. Red buys his supplies in advance for 30gp, and hires an alchemist to teach him for 12gp, plus the cost of tickets to send the alchemist back home. He trains each day, and with his advantage, he rolls the following: 15, 20, 9, 7, 20. As a bard, Red has Jack of All Trades, so he adds half his +5 proficiency bonus to each roll, and so those numbers increase by 2 each. He gains a total of 81 skill points during the trip, bringing him to a little under 1/5 to completion.

Training Example 2

Zimest has had too many traps blow up in his face after Rama barges through a door, and decides to train the Slippery talent (Acrobatics, page 2) to make it a bit easier to deal with the effects. Zimest took the Handspring talent earlier, so he has the prerequisite talent. Slippery is a Tier 2 talent, so Zimest needs 675 skill points to train it.

The party decides to spend 4 days enjoying their castle, so Zimest has time to train. He has a good Dexterity and is proficient in Acrobatics, giving him +11 to his training rolls. There are also some retired adventurers that Zimest can hire to help speed things along.

He spends 20gp on traps and poisons to use in his training, plus an additional 16gp to get a retired adventurer to assist him. He rolls the following: 25, 25, 27, 24, 29. At the end of the 4-day period, he's got 130 points invested in learning this talent, and is also about 1/5 of the way there.

To begin training a skill, a character must select a talent to train. If the character has partially trained for a different Talent, all progress on that Talent will be lost when they begin training a new one. A character cannot select a talent if they do not have its prerequisite talent.

After making their selection, a character requires at least 8 hours of free time to train, which cannot include time spent resting (long or short rest) or performing any other strenuous activity. At the end of this time, the character makes a roll, and they gain skill points equal to the total rolled.

If the character is training a talent in a skill tree, they make an ability check using the relevant skill. If they are training a talent in the specialty tree, they make a flat ability check using an attribute selected by the DM.

Training costs money to do correctly, at 5gp per training session. This may cover the basic costs of supplies, or covering expenses when things go poorly. A character who trains without paying this cost has disadvantage on their training roll.

A character may also improve their results while training by studying. They can spend 1 hour before a training session to study the topic, making an Intelligence Check after this hour. The DC of this check increases depending on the tier of the talent, per the table below. If they succeed on this check, their training roll is made with advantage.

They can also receive assistance during their training session. If the character is being assisted by another character who has the talent they are training, they also gain advantage on their training roll. The trainer must spend the entire session assisting with the roll.

A character can complete 1 training session in a single day, as the results of further training beyond 8 hours are too small to be worthwhile; fingers get tired, muscles get sore, and the brain gets foggy.

The skill points required to gain a talent depend on the tier of the talent, also shown in the table below. Once a character has a number of skill points required for a talent, they gain that talent and their skill points are reset to 0. NPCs with the ability to assist with training can also be hired to assist during training sessions, typically costing the amount shown in the “GP per Session” column below.