Downtime Mode

⧗ Activities and Turn Order

Each character in Downtime Mode can use three activities over the course of the Downtime day. Typically, the third activity is used to ⧗ Rest, effectively limiting the number of usable activities to two. Neglecting to ⧗ Rest causes a character to take 1 Fatigue at the end of the day, plus 1 extra Fatigue for each previous consecutive day in which the character did not ⧗ Rest.

When the GM shifts the game into Downtime Mode—usually as a result of the players indicating that's their intention—, they typically allow each player to take turns using one activity at a time. Once every player character has performed a single activity, another round of activities begins, until everyone's Downtime Day is completed. If multiple PCs are performing the same activity simultaneously, such as Resting or Traveling as a group, the GM can simply resolve these turns at the same time.

The turn order is simply an abstraction; in the fiction, each activity in a single round is taking place simultaneously. The GM can either use "popcorn" turn order, allowing each player to act in an order of their choosing, or resolve each turn in clockwise order beginning with the player to the GM's left.

NPCs in Tactical Mode

Non-player characters also have lives and things they do during the day. However, they don't usually participate in Downtime days with activities of their own. As needed, the GM can optionally track the locations and activities of certain NPCS, especially if their choices impact the player characters and their own objectives. For example, if the group is being pursued by a bandit gang through the jungle, the GM might track the distance the gang is able to move each day and whether they are able to pick up the PCs' trail.

If two or more different groups might make different activity choices depending on what the others choose, a turn order can be established by having each group make a roll. The group with the highest roll can choose to act first, or wait to enter the turn order until after one of the other groups acts. Then the group with the next highest roll makes this same decision, and so on. After a group acts, the group with the highest roll who hasn't acted yet decides first whether to take their turn, and proceeding in descending order. The group with the lowest roll cannot choose not to act when it comes to their turn.

If one group is trying to act in secret, they might roll Guile or Presence. A group trying to spy on another in order to decide what to do would roll Discipline. The GM may allow a single leader from each group to make the roll, or call for each other participating character to aid their leader's roll, per the aiding rules.

Improvising New Activities

Although the basic activities provided in this section cover a wide variety of situations, there are many tasks that might take 4-8 hours that don't fit well into any of them. For such scenarios, the GM determines whether a roll is appropriate as part of the activity, and determines what happens on a success or failure, or whether there are incremental effects depending on the result.

One good tool to use is the progress track. If, for example, a character wished to spend their day spreading rumors and gossip to try to influence public opinion about something, a progress track would be appropriate to measure the ongoing success or failure of the task. The GM might call for a Presence roll with a difficulty based on the audience to be convinced. On a success, the player could add a point to their progress track. 

Movement in Downtime Mode

The GM may use a map to represent an entire region in Downtime Mode. A region map is usually divided into "zones" much likes spaces in Tactical Mode. And just like Tactical Mode, the GM can utilize a square or hexagonal grid, or use the open terrain or theater of the mind methods. Each zone represents an area approximately 4-8 miles or 6-12 kilometers across. Under normal conditions, a character can easily traverse 2 zones with a single activity using ⧗ Travel.

Difficult Terrain (Zones). Every second zone of difficult terrain you enter using Move activities during a Downtime day costs 2 zones worth of movement instead of 1.

Impossible Terrain. Zones of impossible terrain normally cannot be traversed by characters. These include vast chasms, oceans, sheer cliffs, and pools of lava. Such zones usually require the characters to have access to some other means of travel, such as vehicles or magical transit.

On the Move. Whenever you use an activity that doesn't have the Move trait, you can move up to 1 zone immediately before, during, or after the activity resolves. If you do, that activity gains the Move trait in that instance.

Visible Features. In general, a character can use their visual senses to discern major features within their own zone and each adjacent zone. For example, a character walking through grasslands can view crumbling ruins so long as they are within 1 zone of their location at any point. In poor visibility conditions (traveling at moonlit night, in fog, etc.) reduces this visibility to the character's current zone, and nothing more. A blinded character can't perceive features visually at all. High visibility conditions (standing on a hill or mountain) instead expand the range of visibility by 1 or even 2 zones. The ⧗ Scout activity can also expand the range of visibility, and also enable the character to find obscured features that might otherwise go unnoticed.

⮝ Boons in Downtime Mode

When you generate a boon for a roll in Downtime Mode, you can either choose a pre-packaged effect or use your creativity to improvise another benefit (subject to GM approval), or a combination of the two!

What boons can I use? The Basic Downtime boons (seen in the section below this one) are always available, no matter the situation. Some boons are provided by items, character abilities, or other effects, while others are provided by the basic Downtime abilities themselves. Remember than whenever a player makes a roll, they can use the ⮝ Critical Success boon if they roll a 20 on the event die, including during Downtime Mode.

Basic Downtime Boons

⮝ Discern (15-20). Learn something interesting or significant about your environment.

⮝ Hobnob (18-20). Make a new acquaintance/friend or improve your relationship with one.

⮝ Refresh (19-20; Daily). Remove 1 Fatigue.

⮝ Critical Success (20). On a failure, the roll instead becomes a success, but the GM may use any applicable bane (except one that only triggers on a 1). On a success, the player may use any other two applicable boons (except ones that only trigger on a 20), or succeed in an otherwise extraordinary way.