Suggestion: Campaign Time Keeper

So here's my high level idea.  Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I think GM's would love it.  It goes back to old-school thinking, which I realize is probably not in the majority these days, but who knows? What if we had a way to keep a rough idea of Battle/Adventure/Campaign time? One of the details of campaign thinking for me, which is largely fudged because I need to do it 100% manually, is keeping overall time during a game.  How much time has passed since that last long or short rest?  How long since that player cast spiritual weapon?  How long since that player drank his invisibility potion? My thoughts are that a module could be built into the platform that does the following (from easy low hanging fruit to potentially pie in the sky):  1. Start with a game calendar/Clock (month/week names and number of hours/days, weeks/year customize-able by the GM). 2. Counts the number of cycles the players run through the full initiative list on the initiative tracker and adds X minutes to the clock (assuming a melee round is around 10 seconds or so). 3. Notices when the GM changes maps and sends a tickler, for example:  "How much time has passed on this last map?"  The GM can add "1 hour" as example - which would advance the game clock. 4. Allows the GM to add a marker on the clock after a player casts a spell or drinks a potion time it...or.... 5. Automatically marks the clock after the spell or potion has been used and time it (subject to the updates listed above).  And then reminds the GM and/or the player when the time has run out.  The spell timer could probably be incorporated into the initiative track for short term spells.  6. Allows the GM to mark time in days for times when, say, they place an order for an item that might take a few days/weeks/months to arrive at their location. This is all stuff I try to manage manually in my campaigns and having either a simple or complex tool inside the platform to do this would be helpful in a huge way.   Thanks for your consideration!  Would be happy to discuss it further if anyone is interested.  :)

I see where you're coming from, but anything you add becomes yet another thing for the GM to track. What I'd simply do is add a handout , name it "Calendar/Journal" - one for all players to see and use, one duplicate in the GM notes (Only visible to GM). That way players can keep track of their adventure and plan ahead, while it helps the GM to keep track and plan ahead as well.

A calendar only solves the most rudimentary problem on the list (#6).  The real time mechanics fall in the combat and exploration space where you want to track passage of time during a given day.  Also - this shouldn't by any means be compulsory.  GM's should be able to turn it on or off at their own discretion.  Also - in a campaign setting somebody has to track time.  Why on earth would the GM leave that to the players?

Players can do their part and keep a log like this; Day 1: Start adventure. Day 2: Werewolf attack. Morty wounded. Day 3: Rest. Day 4: Go to town, sell loot. Meanwhile, in the GM notes (Only visible to GM); Day 1: Start adventure. Day 2: Werewolf attack. Day 3: Tell Morty to roll a save or he turns into a werewolf.

Just came across this post. Although my script certainly does not do everything you were suggesting John B., it might be of interest or use. Have a look at  TimeKeeper  over at the API forum.

Hey!  Thanks Peter!  Will do.

Hm, these are a lot of functions. No hard calculations really, but I am more concerned about filling up the screen with too much stuff. It shouldn't be to hard to make a separate app to have running in the background tho...

Thanks for the suggestion! After 30 days, Suggestions and Ideas with fewer than 10 votes are closed and the votes are refunded to promote freshness. Your suggestion didn't build the right momentum this time, but feel free to submit it again! We find that the best suggestions describe the problem you are having, and the solution you want. You can learn more about the process of making suggestions on the Roll20 Wiki! More details can be found here .