Downtime is carried out in safe places like cities over longer periods of time, usually a week at minimum. During this time, players have the opportunity to recover from their adventures, commission equipment, earn XP, and undertake tasks individually or as a group.

 

Each Span, the party may freely replenish their supplies, purchase equipment, and commission repairs up to the settlement’s Maximum Production. They may also hire servants, specialists, and mercenaries according to their availability. To perform additional tasks in town, a character must declare a downtime action.

 

Any spending done as part of an action usually doesn’t count against a settlement’s Maximum Production, but it does count against the settlement’s Maximum Expenditure for the purposes of inflation.

Downtime Actions

Common actions during downtime include:

 
Construct property Recruit new Followers
Flaunt your wealth Study a mystery
Eavesdrop on rumors Train new skills
Indulge in vice Venerate the dead
Invest in an Institution Wander the streets

Construct

Oversee the design and constrution of property. Requires ownership of the land and the appropriate labor to be hired before construction can begin. Usually earns XP when the project has completed.

Eavesdrop

Spend time drinking in likely places to hear interesting rumors. Cost is dependent on the settlement’s Market Class. Does not earn XP.

 
Hamlet Village Town City Metropolis
30d 100d 200d 500d 1000d

Characters may Eavesdrop in the poorer districts of Towns, Cities, and Metropolises, but must Save vs Savvy or face an unplesant mishap.

Flaunt

Gaudy displays of wealth, pedantry, and sanctimony.

 

Purchase ostentatious and extravagant equipment worth at least 10x the base price and spend time swaggering around town. Buy esoteric and incoherent tomes, then publicly debate with other pretentious sophists. Perform self-righteous and highly visible acts of charity for futile causes. Spending is limited by Market Class.

 
Hamlet Village Town City Metropolis
200d 500d 1000d 2500d 5000d

At the end of each Span spent Flaunting, make a Luck Roll.

 
Worst Possible Horribly gauche and out of fashion. Gain 0 XP
Pretty Bad Attract the wrong kind of attention.
Middling Nothing unusual happens
Pretty Good Impressive! Become the talk of the town for the next Span
Best Possible Trendsetter! Attract a curious patron or Follower

Indulge

Indulge in partying, carousing, gambling, and other vices. Roll 1d10, which explodes on a range of values depending on the settlement, and multiply it by the settlement’s Carousing Modifier. If done as a group, the party usually gains Camaraderie.

 
Carousing Multiplier Exploding Range
Hamlet 100d 10
Village 200d 9-10
Town 300d 8-10
City 400d 7-10
Metropolis 500d 6-10

After each Span spent Indulging, characters must Test Discipline and roll on the Carousing Complications table on failure.

 

The Carousing Multiplier assumes the party is Indulging in the safest, most luxurious part of town. The party may instead Indulging in poorer districts to use a lower multiplier, but the explosive range remains constant and they suffer 1 Bane on their Discipline Test per step downwards.

 

If a character spends more money than they have, they still gain the full XP, but are now in debt to a shady, unscrupulous creditor.

Study

Perform intensive research, investigate a tantalizing clue, inquire about a shady individual. Test Discipline to learn something new.

Train

Hire a specialist to improve your skills or learn new ones. Each Span spent training grants 1 Progress towards advancement, not an automatic Rank. Does not earn XP.

Venerate

Organize a Funeral for a deceased party member. A dead character’s XP at time of death can be bought at a 1:2 penalty; 1 XP for every 2G spent on funeral rites, memorials, professional mourners, and other purchases in memoriam.

 

To hold a Funeral, the dead character’s body must be recovered and returned to civilization.

Wander

Explore new places, seek out new opportunities, discover new connections. Test Savvy to gain a clue or insight.

Rest

Instead of an action, a PC may choose to do nothing more than relax and recouperate. This generates no additional expenses or encounters, beyond the standard Upkeep.

Upkeep

For every Span spent in downtime, each PC must pay Upkeep Costs. This covers room and board, basic equipment maintenance, taxes, fees, tolls, and other essentials. It does not include resupplying, ongoing hireling costs, purchasing luxuries, or partying.

 

Upkeep varies with the Market Class of the settlement.

 
Hamlet Village Town City Metropolis
10d 50d 250d 1000d 2000d

For Towns, Cities, and Metropolises, the Upkeep Costs represent staying in the safest, most respectible district of the settlement. Poorer, rougher districts with less expensive Upkeep may exist, but choosing to stay in these will fill 1 Social Slot with Miser’s Stigma and add a Hazard Penalty to their Hazard Roll.

 

Characters unable to afford any Upkeep must go hungry and sleep in the gutter. They start the next Span with 1d4-1 Fatigue, and may have reduced Grit from starvation if they lack any food.