Downtime Days
Living in the beautiful city of Aurora isn't cheap, unless you prefer to live in squalor. The Downtime Day system is intended to be used to help your characters feel like they are truly living in this city. Downtime Days can not be hoarded for later.
Costs
As an adventurer, you encounter certain costs in your day to day routine. This cost is abstracted out to: 2 gp per day. This means that for every day you are living and breathing in the city of Aurora, it costs you 2 gp per Downtime Day. Though, you can decide to live in Squalor or Excess, detailed below.
This is abstracted out to include:
Food, Lodging (at the Fox's Tale) and day-to-day activities.
This does not include:
Working for Lady Illiana, taking on Contracts with the Fighting & Blood Guild/Thieve's Guild or visiting local attractions, like the Museum of Natural & Magical History.
Using your Days
If you wish to not let these gold pieces slip through your fingers between sessions, you can easily spend your downtime days working for Lady Illiana or taking on contracts. You receive a certain number of Downtime Days depending on GM Fiat and how the sessions shape up.
Working at The Fox's Tale
If you choose to work at the Tavern, then Lady Illiana will cover the cost of Lodging & Food and will pay you 1 gp per Downtime Day that you spend. This has other benefits listed further down.
Working on Contracts
By taking on a contract with the Fighting & Blood Guild, or one of the various Theives' guilds in they city, you can get a chance to make a large chunk of money while putting your life at risk. While you are on a contract, you can ignore the typical cost for that day of living, as the cost is abstracted out for your contract, and, if it is a non-party contract, you will go through a Skill Challenge with the difficulty set by the GM. If a contract requires more Downtime Days than you have available, you are unable to take on that contract.
Contracts Come and Go
If no new contracts appear, or old ones disappear, than that is just part of living in a city. (Or the GM is busy working on other things and hasn't made any more contracts available.) While it is frustrating to miss out on some contracts, more will always be coming down the pipeline... eventually.
Tourism
Sometimes the sights of the city call to you, and you must go out and explore! These places and activities can give you bonuses to certain rolls as detailed further down.
Busking
Time to entertain the people of Aurora... and make some gold while you're at it! More information on Busking is found further down.
Training a Pet
Time to make that cute little animal useful with command words! See more information further down.
Selling Magic Items
Sometimes you will find some fantastic magic item that is completely worthless to you and you want to sell it. This is a great way to spend your Downtime Days as Mr. Frederick won't always buy things from you (though you can always try). The chart below details how long it takes and the amount of money you can make selling a magic item, though there is a chance that you may spend your Downtime Days and come up empty. If you want to try your luck to sell an item sooner (or later), than the GM can roll for you!
You can increase the chance of finding a buyer by decreasing the price of selling. I.e. If you are trying to sell a Horn of Blasting (450 gp), you have a 60% chance of selling it in 4 (1d6) days for 80% (360 gp) of the buying cost of the item. You can increase the likelihood of finding a buyer by decreasing the price in 5% increments. You could try selling the Horn of Blasting for 50% of the cost of the item, and have a 90% chance of finding a buyer. You must decide this before you roll the d100.
If after, 3 days of trying to sell the Horn of Blasting you roll an 87 to find a buyer, your 3 Downtime Days are not wasted. You can still sell the Horn of Blasting for a greatly reduced price that equals the difference between what you rolled and the chance of selling it (87 - 60 = 27) times 1.5 (27 * 1.5 = 41) and then minus that number by 80% of the cost of the item (80 - 41 = 39). That number gives you how much you can sell the item for (450gp * 39% = 176 gp) while still utilizing those 3 days. The idea being, the closer you roll the d100 to the target number (60% in this case), the closer the amount of gold being offered to the 80% that it was, you are simply going back to someone that gave you a low offer.
| Rarity | Chance of a Buyer | Downtime Days Spent |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 100% | 0 days |
| Uncommon | 80% | 1 day |
| Rare | 60% | 4 (1d6) days |
| Very Rare | 25% | 7 (2d6) days |
| Legendary | Have to use an Auction House |
21 (2d20) days |
Training Skills/Abilities
Coming Soon
Going to School
Coming Soon
Tourism
Sometimes you need a day off to unwind and spend time at the Museum of Natural & Magical History to give yourself advantage on monsters you may face in the future! Or maybe you have interest in hitting the gyms or research in a library! By talking with the GM, you can give yourself temporary boosts to certain checks for the upcoming session. This could be anything from visiting the museum, the gym or anything you can think of (and can convince the GM of) to give you an edge for the next session. These boosts last until the end of the session, unless we stop in the middle of a mission, per GM discretion.
Museum of Natural & Magical History (ex)
The Museum has several monsters on display that you can spend a Downtime Day per each monster studying to give you advantage on Nature, Survival, Insight and other checks that are similar. (This does NOT grant you advantage on attack rolls or saving throws). This advantage lasts until the end of your next session.
Some of the monsters at the Museum are: Basilisk, Beasts, Bulettes, Kruthiks, Owlbear, Peryton, Yeti & Zorbos (feel free to ask the GM for a specific creature).
Gyms (ex)
Can't ever forget about your gains! By spending a Downtime Day you can work on your muscles and give yourself advantage on your next Athletics or Acrobatics check! (This CAN be used on a Grapple check, or even escaping a Grapple.) This bonus is good for one use per Downtime Day spent at the gym, though all uses are expended at the end of your next session.
Academy of Magics in Aurora (ex)
Magic is hard, but by studying at the Academy of Magics, even you can get to that fireball! By spending a Downtime Day, you can join a community class to help you on your quest to lich-hood. You gain a bonus to your next cantrip damage roll or advantage on your next Arcana checks equal to the number of days you spent studying up to your spellcasting ability modifier.
Busking (ex)
Some people just need an excuse to be parted from their money, and you have decided to be the excuse! By using a Downtime Day, you can roll a performance check on the Busking Success to determine how many street patrons were taken aback by your performance!
Busking Success
| d20 | Profits from the Day |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | 0 |
| 6-10 | 1d10 sp |
| 11-15 | 1d4 gp |
| 16-20 | 2d4 gp |
| 21-25 | 2d8 gp |
| 26+ | 1d4 pp |
Training a Pet
Occasionally your heart strings are tugged on by a cute little animal, alien or robot. But they aren't the best listeners. By taking a few Downtime Days, as determined by the chart below, you can make them a useful part of the party instead of just a fancy set piece. To determine if you were successful in training your pet, you will make an Animal Handling check after each Downtime Day to see if that day was a success.
| Ability | Downtime Days | Animal Handling DC | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sit | 1 | 10 | Sit on command |
| Stay/Come | 1 | 10 | Stay/Come on command |
| Crawl | 1 | 10 | Crawl on command |
| Pack Up | 2 | 13 | Go into a predesignated spot |
| Play Dead | 2 | 13 | Pretend they died |
| Dance | 2 | 13 | Shake your groove thang |
| Shake | 1 | 10 | Shake off all that water |
| Human | 2 | 13 | Stand on their back paws and walk around |
| Zombie | 2 | 13 | Same as human, but now they shuffle and make small groaning sounds |
| Count | 3 | 16 | Learn simple math tricks |
| Kiss | 1 | 10 | Licks your nose |
| Bark | 1 | 10 | Barks on command |
| Roll Over | 1 | 10 | Shows their belly |
| Spin | 1 | 10 | Circles around itself |
| Release | 2 | 13 | Lets go of an object |
| Heel | 2 | 13 | Sticks to your feet |
| Take It | 2 | 13 | Grabs an object |
| Leave It | 2 | 13 | Avoids an object |
| Bring It | 2 | 13 | Brings an object |
| Learn Names | 3 | 16 | Learn simple names for generic objects |
| Leap | 1 | 10 | Can jump over a low wall |
| Jumping People | 2 | 13 | Jumps & stands on your back |
| High Five | 1 | 10 | Gives you a high five |
| Sit Pretty/Beg | 2 | 13 | Begins begging |
| Back | 2 | 13 | Walks backwards |
| Search/Find | 4 | 20 | Specify a generic object to be found |
| Bow | 2 | 13 | Takes a bow |
| Limp | 2 | 13 | Pretends an injury |
Living Expenses
Maybe you aren't the type to live in such niceties like a Tavern. Maybe you would prefer the streets, then again maybe you would prefer a private apartment with a beautiful view of the city with fine meals every day. I won't judge. Instead of the typical 2 gp per day for your Downtime Day Costs, you have a few other options you can choose from.
| Living Situation | Cost per Day | Food % | Lodging % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squalor | 5 cp | 100% | 0% |
| Normal | 2 gp | 50% | 50% |
| Excess | 10 gp (or more) | 20% | 80% |
*You can choose to find your own apartments and only pay the Food % cost for your Downtime Day Cost so long as you remember to pay rent on the 1st of every month.
*If you are a creature that requires no Food, you can ignore the Food % cost for figuring out your Downtime Day Cost, but you still need Lodging if you prefer to not live on the streets in Squalor.
Downtime Day Costs
| What You're Doing | Downtime Day Expense |
|---|---|
| The Fox's Tale | Expense is covered |
| Contracts | Expense is covered |
| Selling Magic Items | Expense is NOT covered |
| Tourism | Expense is NOT covered |
| Training a Pet | Expense is NOT covered |
| Learning a skill | Expense is NOT covered |
| Doing Nothing | Expense is NOT covered |
*The expenses covered assumes you are living at the Normal Living Expenses level. If you are living in Squalor, you will not be hired at The Fox's Tale but you can still take on contracts with your guilds. If you are living in Excess, your work at The Fox's Tale will not be enough to cover your expenses and you will still owe 8 gp per day and contracts will only cover half of your Cost per Day (meaning you will owe 5gp per day).
Training
Coming Soon
Benefits of Work at The Fox's Tale
There are several jobs that Lady Illiana will be happy to pay you for, and each can come with benefits.
Chef: Chance to buy food at a discount.
For each Downtime Day you spend in the kitchens, you can subtract 1 gp from the cost of food used to create your Signature Dishes. (See Chef's Utensils for more information.)
Waitress: Chance to learn about gossip.
For each Downtime Day you spend serving food and drinks, you can learn information about the city around you. After you spend your days, you can make a Perception check to be given information from the GM about exciting things happening around the city. This could be new contracts, jobs or gossip to help you on your quests. You can call on these things during the next session.
Bartender: Chance to make more friends.
For each Downtime Day you spend making drinks and chatting with locals, you can start making friends and opening doors. After you spend your days, you can make a Performance or Persuasion check to be given information from the GM about exciting things happening around the city. This could be new friends you can talk to for information or people owing you 'favors' for small things. You can call on these things during the next session.
Cleaner: Chance to make more money.
For each Downtime Day you spend cleaning The Fox's Tale, you may find that some people lose money. After you spend your days cleaning, you can double the amount of Downtime Days for the purpose of your modifier for the Tips chart. (i.e. spend 2 days as a Cleaner, get a +4 to your d20 roll)
Bouncer: Chance to act quicker.
For each Downtime Day you spend watching over The Fox's Tale and kicking out the rowdy crowd, you find your reflexes are getting faster. After you spend your days, you receive a bonus to your first Initiative roll equal to the number of days you spent as a Bouncer. Your second Initiative roll gets a bonus equal to half of the number of days you spent as a Bouncer (rounded down). This lasts until the end of your next session.
Stocker: Chance to be stronger.
For each Downtime Day you spend stocking the pantry and wine cellar of the Fox's Tale, you find your muscles growing stronger. After you spend your days, you receive a bonus to your first damage roll equal to the number of days you spent as a Stocker. This bonus has a maximum of +3, if you spend more days than that as a stocker, you save those extra damage points on your second hit, and continues until you are out of extra damage/days spent.
Tips
While working at The Fox's Tale, you are able to roll on the Tips chart below and use your Downtime Days as a modifier to your D20 roll. If multiple characters work at The Fox's Tale during this time, than everyone rolls for their own tips.
| d20 | Tips Earned |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | 0 gp |
| 4-6 | 1 gp + Half of Modifier |
| 7-9 | 3 gp + Half of Modifier |
| 10-12 | 4 gp + Half of Modifier |
| 13-15 | 5 gp + Modifier |
| 16-18 | 6 gp + Modifier |
| 19+ | 7 gp + Modifier |