Downtime

This needs to be updated. I ran a long adventure in game please fill in ur players downtime appropriately as we are behind currently. 

wait,players can do that?

just dms 

My players haven't reached the rest of you in the timeline. They shouldn't have earned downtime for any dates after Marpenoth 24. Also, I am seeing a lot of PCs with downtime after an X but there is no X following the downtime earned. That shouldn't be happening. PCs only earn downtime BETWEEN adventures. So they only earn downtime after an adventure (X) if there are days between their next adventure (X).  Does that make sense? I'm asking cause I know it has been confusing for a number of people.

Mark S. said: My players haven't reached the rest of you in the timeline. They shouldn't have earned downtime for any dates after Marpenoth 24. Also, I am seeing a lot of PCs with downtime after an X but there is no X following the downtime earned. That shouldn't be happening. PCs only earn downtime BETWEEN adventures. So they only earn downtime after an adventure (X) if there are days between their next adventure (X).  Does that make sense? I'm asking cause I know it has been confusing for a number of people. So let me ask a question to try to clear this up for myself (and maybe for others).  It seems like the only way to allow PCs to earn downtime between adventures is to not fill anything in for them until those PCs adventure again.  So then, it seems like it would be the responsibility of the DM who runs those PCs in their game to then go back and retroactively fill in their dates.  If that's the case, then I've been doing it wrong.  My understanding was that, if I run a session, I put in Xs for those who played, and filled in the number of game days I advanced the clock for everyone else.  That could be one of the reasons why there are PCs with downtime after an X (however, I haven't done this in a long time, since my game clock has not advanced more than a few days in the last couple months, so I know I'm not the only culprit).

If I'm understanding how downtime is earned... would it be easier to explain on the basis of when your starting the new game, as opposed to when ending one? for example, if I am understanding this correctly: instead of saying you earn it between the 2 adventures, it would also be correct to say that downtime is not earned until when you start a new adventure, the amount gained based on the amount of time between that adventure and the last? posting this also to make sure I understand correctly as well.

Gozer the Gozerian said: My understanding was that, if I run a session, I put in Xs for those who played, and filled in the number of game days I advanced the clock for everyone else.  That could be one of the reasons why there are PCs with downtime after an X (however, I haven't done this in a long time, since my game clock has not advanced more than a few days in the last couple months, so I know I'm not the only culprit). That was what I was told as well. I had assumed the players couldn't count anything after their last adventure, after reading recent discussion of the topic.

I was also calculating downtime the same way as randy and mix. It was tabulating days available not days earned. Players would still only be able to apply or spend them between adventures. 

Yeah... it became kind of confusing. I didn't even really notice a problem until one of my new PCs was somehow spending more downtime than the rest of the group. Went in to see where he was getting it all from and realized almost all of it was from further down the timeline. Up until then, I think we were all doing it that way. There was a discussion about it somewhere, but I don't think it ever reached everyone.  I tried to figure out a way to add the instructions to the top of the sheet, but not sure it helps. But yeah... I think we just put an X and then only fill downtime amounts for those same players since their last X. At least that would seem to be the most simple solution.  The only exception might be if you break down a period of time like I have been doing. For example, I just added Marpenoth 24 and changed Marpenoth 24-29 to Marpenoth 25-29. So I had to give 1 downtime for Marpenoth 24 to those that had it during 24-29 and then reduce 25-29 by 1 so the record would be right.  Seems like the simplest would be to just update downtime for your players unless you are breaking down an existing entry. Trying to simplify things. Thoughts?

Theoretically, it should be something that happens before a session.  You credit the players playing in your session with their accumulated downtime, they spend it, if so desired, and then you move on with the session.  However, those two sentences actually entail quite a bit of bookkeeping.  The DM would have to look up the column for the player, fill in all the correct numbers in the cells, and then tell the player how much downtime they have.  Then the player has to figure out what to do with it, etc.  Which all takes away from game time. Perhaps it could be awarded after the session, make it one of the duties of the DM to fill out the downtime log when they finish a session, and let the players figure out what to do with it between sessions, but that's not optimal either.  For example, I don't play that often, so my characters pile up a lot of downtime.  Like months of it.  So, I might want to have been using that downtime to learn a new skill or craft a weapon or some such thing.  But then, if it's not awarded until after the session, then I can't have used that thing I was supposed to have been crafting, or that skill I was supposed to have been learning until my next session, and who knows when that will be? So I've got two suggestions: 1. Create a row right next to the dates in the Downtime Log and fill it with just the numbers of days for each cell.  Then, when you're ready to start a session, the DM can go to the Downtime Log, find the PCs last "X", copy the number column all the way down to the current date, and paste it in on the player's column in the Downtime Log.  Then we've got an updated total of downtime days for each player that they can then spend.  This requires spending precious session time on bookkeeping, but then no one is spending downtime that they haven't actually earned. 2. DMs continue filling in the dates for all other players, as we had done before, but it is up to the players to be responsible not to spend downtime they haven't yet earned.  They would have to look, not at the total number in their top cell, but at what's in the cells up to the current FR date of that game.  You can actually see the sum of a selected group of cells down in the lower right hand corner of the spreadsheet, so you don't have to worry about doing the math - just select the cells up to the current date, and it will add them for you (the Xs won't sum). Personally, I prefer the 2nd option, since it puts less responsibility on the DMs, who already have a lot on their plates.

I also prefer the 2nd option. The more responsibility that you give the players, the easier things are on the DMs. I like lots of detail in the game, so I am working on delegating as much as possible to the players. I want to keep things as simple as possible for DMs. Downtime expenditure is something we have discussed in our sessions. Players do not like using game time to deal with this. For this reason, I created a Undermountain Downtime thread so people can discuss what they are doing between sessions. This way the DM can handle it at their leisure between games and even have an assistant player (co-DM) help with it. It also ends up resulting in some out of session RP that is very interesting. I have been enjoying watching some of the interaction and it has given me some great ideas. I am thinking we should set this as a standard since the majority of players and DMs are not going to want to use up session time dealing with downtime. This could be easily added to the Downtime thread for clarification. Thoughts?

I personally just give downtime to the players at the beginning of the session and we take some time to RP it out. It has led to some zany and fun interactions as I RP each unique shop-keep. (I love giving store-owners their very own personalities on the fly )

Gozer the Gozerian said: Theoretically, it should be something that happens before a session.  You credit the players playing in your session with their accumulated downtime, they spend it, if so desired, and then you move on with the session.  However, those two sentences actually entail quite a bit of bookkeeping.  The DM would have to look up the column for the player, fill in all the correct numbers in the cells, and then tell the player how much downtime they have.  Then the player has to figure out what to do with it, etc.  Which all takes away from game time. Perhaps it could be awarded after the session, make it one of the duties of the DM to fill out the downtime log when they finish a session, and let the players figure out what to do with it between sessions, but that's not optimal either.  For example, I don't play that often, so my characters pile up a lot of downtime.  Like months of it.  So, I might want to have been using that downtime to learn a new skill or craft a weapon or some such thing.  But then, if it's not awarded until after the session, then I can't have used that thing I was supposed to have been crafting, or that skill I was supposed to have been learning until my next session, and who knows when that will be? So I've got two suggestions: 1. Create a row right next to the dates in the Downtime Log and fill it with just the numbers of days for each cell.  Then, when you're ready to start a session, the DM can go to the Downtime Log, find the PCs last "X", copy the number column all the way down to the current date, and paste it in on the player's column in the Downtime Log.  Then we've got an updated total of downtime days for each player that they can then spend.  This requires spending precious session time on bookkeeping, but then no one is spending downtime that they haven't actually earned. 2. DMs continue filling in the dates for all other players, as we had done before, but it is up to the players to be responsible not to spend downtime they haven't yet earned.  They would have to look, not at the total number in their top cell, but at what's in the cells up to the current FR date of that game.  You can actually see the sum of a selected group of cells down in the lower right hand corner of the spreadsheet, so you don't have to worry about doing the math - just select the cells up to the current date, and it will add them for you (the Xs won't sum). Personally, I prefer the 2nd option, since it puts less responsibility on the DMs, who already have a lot on their plates. I like the 2nd option

Gozer the Gozerian said: Theoretically, it should be something that happens before a session.  You credit the players playing in your session with their accumulated downtime, they spend it, if so desired, and then you move on with the session.  However, those two sentences actually entail quite a bit of bookkeeping.  The DM would have to look up the column for the player, fill in all the correct numbers in the cells, and then tell the player how much downtime they have.  Then the player has to figure out what to do with it, etc.  Which all takes away from game time. Perhaps it could be awarded after the session, make it one of the duties of the DM to fill out the downtime log when they finish a session, and let the players figure out what to do with it between sessions, but that's not optimal either.  For example, I don't play that often, so my characters pile up a lot of downtime.  Like months of it.  So, I might want to have been using that downtime to learn a new skill or craft a weapon or some such thing.  But then, if it's not awarded until after the session, then I can't have used that thing I was supposed to have been crafting, or that skill I was supposed to have been learning until my next session, and who knows when that will be? So I've got two suggestions: 1. Create a row right next to the dates in the Downtime Log and fill it with just the numbers of days for each cell.  Then, when you're ready to start a session, the DM can go to the Downtime Log, find the PCs last "X", copy the number column all the way down to the current date, and paste it in on the player's column in the Downtime Log.  Then we've got an updated total of downtime days for each player that they can then spend.  This requires spending precious session time on bookkeeping, but then no one is spending downtime that they haven't actually earned. 2. DMs continue filling in the dates for all other players, as we had done before, but it is up to the players to be responsible not to spend downtime they haven't yet earned.  They would have to look, not at the total number in their top cell, but at what's in the cells up to the current FR date of that game.  You can actually see the sum of a selected group of cells down in the lower right hand corner of the spreadsheet, so you don't have to worry about doing the math - just select the cells up to the current date, and it will add them for you (the Xs won't sum). Personally, I prefer the 2nd option, since it puts less responsibility on the DMs, who already have a lot on their plates. Me too, for option 2

Sounds good. Looks like everyone likes Option 2. We will just have to make sure that the players understand, but that should be as easy as just stating it clearly in the appropriate thread. I think we shall just let DMs handle expenditure as they would like. Hope the suggestions help other DMs that don't want to deal with it during the session though. I will update the thread for Downtime. :)

I am not sure I am wording this well. If anyone has a suggestion for something that would be easier to understand, let me know. Check the downtime log to see how much downtime you have earned. Do not use the total at the top of the sheet as this number may reflect downtime you have not yet earned in the timeline. You only earn downtime BETWEEN adventures (numbers between Xs). You can see how much downtime you have here: Experience and Downtime Log

I would say, "You can only earn downtime up to the current FR date of your most recent adventure.  The FR date should be listed in the game Scehduling thread, or ask your DM."

I like it... thanks. Updating now.