Rest and Recreation: Unpacking Downtime in D&D 5E

After looking at the proposed Bastion system last week, I realized I had never done a full review of the Downtime Activities that are offered in 5E. Downtime activities provide an opportunity for characters to recover from exhaustion 5E rules typically incur during adventuring. It's a vital aspect of character development, adding layers of complexity and personality to your in-game persona. One of the best ways to really compare the balance of the Bastion system would be to look at what other non-adventure options players could choose in order to better themselves. So I decided I would look at everything, give my thoughts, and maybe provide my take on how to run Downtime Activities. So follow along as we do a RAW Review of Downtime.

(Art: Magic the Gathering by Sara Winters)

When I looked for downtime actions, I found that just about everything in the core books could be found in one of three books: the Players Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, or Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. After taking some time to look at the options, I realized it would make the most sense to break the review of actions into two main sections. First, I would look at the PHB/DMG options, the initial options provided in Dungeons and Dragons 5E, then end with a look at the revised options from XGTE.

PHB and DMG Downtime

The first two, PHB and DMG, were the first iteration of Downtime Activities in 5th Edition. Their layout was a little less uniform, but these options created the foundation for what we saw later on in the game.

PHB

The Player’s Handbook had a small selection of options for players to see and choose from.

Crafting

The first option we see is the ability to craft a nonmagical object, such as adventuring equipment or something unrelated. In order to craft, a character must have proficiency with the tools associated with the task. Someone looking to build a barn, for example, would need to be proficient with carpenter’s tools. Characters will also need access to any materials or specific locations in order to do the work, such as a forge for someone working with smith’s tools.

For everyday worked, a character crafting could either make a 5 gp item or put 5 gp worth of work into a more expensive object. In order to create plate armor, which costs 1500gp, it would take 300 days to craft alone.

Practicing a Profession

Any character can choose to just work. At its base, this option provides a modest lifestyle without having to pay lifestyle expenses (more on that later). Any character belonging to an organization that can provide work, such as an artisan or thieves’ guild, instead earns enough to support a comfortable lifestyle. Any character proficient with Performance can use that to support a wealthy lifestyle (explains all the Bards out there).

Recuperating 

(Art: Magic the gathering by Pete Venters)

The Recuperating option aims to help characters remove conditions like being fatigued 5E style. Any character battered and bruised by the previous adventure can instead choose to take it easy between adventures. Every three days of downtime spent recuperating makes a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. Upon a success, the character may end an effect preventing the regaining of hit points or get advantage on saving throws against any diseases or poisons currently affecting them.

Research 

Sometimes characters might want to gain some more knowledge, either pertaining to an upcoming adventure or a personal project. This option provides some vague details on how to go about this, mentioning that a DM may call for one or more ability checks a PC must pass in order to gain this knowledge. Each day of research costs 1 gp to cover expenses, which is besides your normal lifestyle expenses.

Training 

The last option presented in the PHB is for characters looking to broaden their knowledge. For every 250 days spent training, with a cost of 1 gp per day, which represents the cost of materials and an instructor, a character may add a new language or set of tools to their proficiency. A DM can change the time spent, letting the character know ahead of time.

Lifestyle Expenses

"Lifestyle Expenses" has appeared multiple times and will continue to do so. This provides a simple way for players to calculate their character's living expenses in a fantasy world. Adventuring determines much, but free time is organized with a chart. The price is broken down in the chart below, at price per day. A character wanting to live a Comfortable lifestyle for 10 days, for example, would have to pay 20 gp.

Lifestyle	Price/Day
Wretched	-
Squalid	1 sp
Poor	2 sp
Modest	1 gp
Comfortable	2 gp
Wealthy	4 gp
Aristocratic	10 gp minimum

Keep in mind that unless specified otherwise, characters will have to pay this expense on top of any other Downtime Activity they are doing. So a Wizard living a Wealthy lifestyle for 10 days while they research will have to pay 5 gp per day, 1 for the Downtime Activity and 4 for the Lifestyle Expense. The only option in the PHB for covering this cost is Practicing a Profession.

DMG

Source: Magic the Gathering by Ryan Barger

The Dungeon Master’s Guide provides a lot more options for players to potential use during their time away from adventuring. 

Building a Stronghold 

Here we see the ancestors to the currently proposed Bastion Rules, allowing a character (or characters) to create a Stronghold. This section shows characters will need to get a plot of land, and potentially the authorization of a kingdom or similar domain if the land is in a kingdom, usually through a royal charter, land grant, or deed. 

The section notes that most often, the local kingdom gives land and deeds as rewards for faithful service. The concept that the noble knight gains their own lands within the kingdom is a common trope that is historically accurate. It is also noted that land and deeds can also be bought or inherited occasionally as well.

Once the above has been gained, a character will need access to both building materials and laborers. It just takes time and money. The table below gives guidelines on building out a Stronghold based on size.

Source: Magic the Gathering by Aaron Miller

As a final note, this time assumes that a player is spending their downtime overseeing the construction of their Stronghold. For everyday spent working without the character adds 3 days to the construction time.

Carousing 

A very stereotypical option, carousing represents a player choosing to party, drink, gamble, or anything else they want to do that “helps them cope with the perils they face on their adventures” (Very Darkest Dungeon of them). The DMG’s rules on Carousing state that a character must maintain a wealthy lifestyle (4 gp per day) for the duration of their time spent carousing. At the end of the period, they may then roll 1d100, adding their character level. Then, based on their results on the Carousing table, they gain either a benefit or hindrance. This ranges from ending up in jail to gaining a small fortune gambling.

Crafting a Magic Item 

If the DM allows for magic items in their game (LINK HERE) they may also allow for a character to craft their own magical item. In order to create one, a character must have a formula describing the construction of the item. They must then have the spell slots and the ability to cast any spells the item can produce. The character must be of a minimum level depending on the rarity of an item (Legendary items require a minimum 17th level character).

Once all of those requirements have been achieved, they may start working on the item. Each day a character spends working on the item, they may expend 25 gp, subtracting that from the creation cost until the item’s total cost is paid. Consumable items, such as spell scrolls or potions, have their creation cost halved.

Multiple characters can combine their efforts to reduce the time taken, but not the creation cost. 

Gaining Renown 

Characters looking to sing of their own deeds can choose to gain Renown, a score representing the standing with a particular organization. They must spend a number of days equal to their current renown multiplied by 10 in order to increase it by 1.

Renown 

Most games I have played do not use Renown, but it exists primarily to determine standing in Factions. The DMG mentions that completing a mission specifically assigned by an organization increases a character’s renown with them by 2, with some differences. 

Performing Sacred Rites

Any character considered “pious” can choose to perform sacred rites to gain favor from their chosen deity. It takes 10 days, then the character gains inspiration for 2d6 days.

Running a Business 

There are basic rules for owning and operating a business. After spending a number of downtime days working at the business, they may roll 1d100 and add the number of days worked to it. The results show how well the business did, with lower rolls costing money and higher ones breaking even or even making a profit. Unpaid debts on the business reduce rolls by 10 and accumulate.

Statistically, this mechanic has a 60% chance of not costing the character money. It has a 40% chance that it makes a profit for the character, though this ranged from an average of 15 gp (1d6x5) to around 75gp (3d10x5). There are no explicit rules in this section regarding the cost and nature of business maintenance.

Selling Magic Items 

Characters can take magic items they no longer want, and sell them. They must spend a certain number of days to find a buyer, as indicated on the 'Salable Magic Items' table in the Dungeon Master's Guide. If a character is trying to sell multiple items, they may do so with each item taking its own amount of days. Each check requires a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check to find the buyer, which gains advantage if another player is assisting. Failing this roll just means the days are wasted.

Once a seller is found, a character rolls 1d100, and then may add a Charisma (Persuasion) ability check to those results. The seller's offer can be as low as a tenth or as high as one and a half times the price.

Sowing Rumors 

Sometimes, you might want to sow dissent or spill the tea among the realm's residents. Characters who want to do that can spend their downtime Sowing Rumors. Depending on the Size of the town, they must spend a certain amount of days working to spread those rumors, and 1 gp per day of doing this. At the end, they must make a DC 15 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) check, shifting the attitude of the people by one step the character wishes, using the Social Encounters System.

Training to Gain Levels 

While not a true activity, this variant rule allows a DM to require characters to spend both time and gold in order to advance in levels. The amount of both depends on what level they are advancing, increasing by 10 days and 20 gp for each tier of play.

Unpacking the Core

These rules served as the building blocks for players who wanted to flesh out their characters beyond adventuring machines, and there are some wonderful options for flavor in here. We see a lot of rules for a range of different options, covering most of the fantasy tropes. These rules are also extremely lightweight, meaning they don’t bog down the game with overly complex mechanics. This leaves a lot of space for the character to roleplay and makes sure that downtime does not become a quest to complete. They have some drawbacks, however.

Now, with the wisdom of hindsight, a glance back at the original PHB and DMG reveals just how much the D&D landscape has shifted since their 2014 debut. Dungeons & Dragons nowadays aim to have a system to provide a bit more structure in its mechanics. The current design philosophy leans towards providing a more structured framework. Case in point: the "Running a Business" activity. The option seems appealing, but the lack of explicit guidance on operational costs can leave Dungeon Masters running 5E campaigns in a tricky position.

The balance among these downtime options is, admittedly, not perfect. Consider Carousing; it doesn't factor in the duration of your revelry. Instead, your outcome hinges solely on a 1d100 roll and your character level. Building a Stronghold actually punishes players for doing anything but overseeing construction, adventuring included. This makes me think the developers built Bastions a polar opposite in order to avoid traps like this. This seems like an overcorrection, likely designed to counterbalance the players feeling obligated to trade adventuring time for construction..

It's important to take all these observations with a grain of salt. After all, these were the pioneer rules for a game system that's been significantly refined over nearly a decade. They are simultaneously a time capsule and a foundation, helping us appreciate the enormous strides D&D has made. Despite the scattershot nature of these initial guidelines, they've been instrumental in shaping the game's evolution and gauging player interest in various aspects of downtime.

Original Theories on Downtime Activities

In scrutinizing the downtime activities provided in both the PHB and DMG, it's clear that the designers had certain guiding principles for gameplay. For starters, the PHB gave us a limited selection of five options—two of which, Recuperating and Working a Profession, were rather pedestrian. In raw 5E terms, these options served to cover the bases but didn't necessarily enrich the experience. Even crafting was relegated to mundane items, pointing toward an intent to keep players focused on adventuring rather than artisanal pursuits.

The DMG, released alongside the PHB, expanded the landscape but also set some strict guardrails. It introduced eight new activities, including the much-debated rules on crafting magic items. These were far from being a free-for-all; in fact, they often reminded the player that the DM has final jurisdiction. This fits snugly with the overarching theory that magic items should be rare—a form of DM-controlled scarcity that adds value to each magical find.

Another lens through which to view these rules is their aim to make downtime activities less lucrative than adventuring. The implication here is clear: the real rewards, both material and narrative, are found in the risky business of dungeon-delving and dragon-slaying. All of this goes to show that the original framework was designed to funnel players back into the core mechanics of D&D—combat, exploration, and interaction—rather than let them linger too long in downtime.

The foundational rules may have their limitations, but they also serve as a snapshot of the game's initial priorities and theories. They provide a bedrock upon which later expansions and interpretations, like those in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, would build.

Conclusion

You've seen how downtime activities have evolved in D&D 5E, showcasing the game's ongoing commitment to providing varied and immersive experiences. These foundational rules in D&D RAW have evolved over the years, leading to more refined mechanics. This transformation has been more than just cosmetic—it's a change in how the game thinks about player agency and character development. While the early RAW 5E rules painted in broad strokes, leaving a lot of the specifics to Dungeon Masters and players, modern updates have introduced more structure without sacrificing creative freedom.

The tension between maintaining a focused, adventure-driven gameplay and offering expansive downtime options reflects the dynamic nature of D&D as a whole. It's this balancing act that keeps the game both fresh and rooted in its storied tradition. As any player fatigued by 5E's rigorous adventuring can attest, downtime activities serve as a necessary counterpoint to the peril and exhaustion that comes from a life of questing and dragon-slaying.

Next up, we'll explore how modern updates, including upcoming releases, continue to redefine downtime activities, offering more opportunities for meaningful role-playing and character development. It's an exciting time to be part of the D&D community, with every new edition and supplement enriching the tapestry of this beloved game.

So, do you utilize Downtime Rules from the DMG or PHB in your running 5E campaigns? Or have you incorporated any house rules to better fit your narrative? I would love to hear about it, either in the comments below or on social media!