Downtime Rules

What you do in the quiet shapes who you are in the storm.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." — John Lubbock, The Use of Life

Overview

Downtime represents the structured time between adventures where characters engage with the world, build influence, develop property, and pursue personal goals. The following rules formalize downtime activities to allow meaningful mechanical and narrative consequences without monopolizing game time. These rules are adapted from Pathfinder 1e with expansions for the game's structure.

What is Downtime?

Downtime in Æther represents the periods between adventures where your character pursues non-adventuring activities like crafting, training, research, building, or managing their businesses and homesteads. This system allows you to develop your character's story, skills, and resources in a dynamic and engaging way.

Downtime Tokens

Downtime in Æther is tracked using Downtime Tokens (DT). Each token represents one in-game day of activity.

Weekly Allotment:

• Every character receives 7 Downtime Tokens each Sunday (PST) or upon character creation.
• Each token represents a single full day of downtime, which consists of all four phases: Upkeep → Activity → Income → Event.
• You may spend up to 7 DT per week. You may use fewer if desired.
• Unused DT do not carry over. Any unused tokens are assumed to be spent on rest.

Using DT:

• Players may only use 1 DT per post in the downtime thread unless otherwise specified.
• Each DT allows for one downtime activity. (Some activities may span multiple tokens.)
• Clearly declare the use of each token in your post.
• Downtime happens behind

"A wise adventurer spends their coin like a king, and their days like a priest—every one with purpose." — Priestess Callira, Matron of the Golden Shrine

Posting Format:

• Describe the activity narratively. Where is your character? What are they doing? Who are they interacting with?
• Declare mechanics using the provided #resource channel template: include skill checks, gold/capital spent, time passed, etc.

Oversight:

• GMs are not required to review every post but may audit logs at any time.
• Be prepared to explain your choices if asked. Staff may request adjustments if rules are broken or balance is disrupted.

Acceleration Tokens (AT)

Sometimes, you want to speed up a long activity. That’s where Acceleration Tokens (AT) come in.

Gaining AT:

• 1 AT is gained each Sunday with your DT.
• You may also earn AT through quests, rewards, and staff events.

Using AT:

• Instant Completion: Instantly finish any downtime activity by spending AT equal to the original time / 10 (rounded up). Activities 10 days or less only cost 1 AT.
• Reduce Time: Spend 1 AT to reduce an activity’s time by 10%.

XP from Downtime (Diminishing Returns)

To ensure balanced growth across the server, XP from downtime follows a diminishing returns model:

• 1st XP-generating activity per week: Full XP (as if defeating a CR-equal encounter)
• 2nd: 75% XP
• 3rd: 50% XP
• 4th+: 25% XP

This system resets each Sunday. This encourages players to diversify their downtime actions while still supporting passive progression.

Example: A CR-appropriate encounter gives 600 XP.

• First downtime activity: 600 XP
• Second: 450 XP
• Third: 300 XP
• Fourth or more: 150 XP each

"The gods rest, kings feast, and heroes build empires—between battles." — High Mason Elri, Builder of the Gilded Forum

Got it! Here's an updated section to insert into the Downtime Rules document that clearly and firmly explains how downtime works alongside active adventuring, resolving the confusion players are having:

Capital Types

• Goods (20 gp purchased / 10 gp earned): Materials, trade goods, supplies.
• Influence (30 gp / 15 gp): Favors, social sway, political pull.
• Labor (20 gp / 10 gp): Skilled or unskilled physical work.
• Magic (100 gp / 50 gp): Spellcasting, magical components or services.

Gaining Capital

Capital can be purchased at full value or earned at half cost using downtime activities such as work, business ownership, or leadership. Some capital may be granted as story rewards, inheritance, or loot.

"I paid for this temple with sweat, song, and three favors owed to a very persuasive baroness." — Talesin Maor, Wandering Bard

Settlement Spending Limits

The size of the settlement you’re in limits how much capital can be spent per day:

• Thorp: 2
• Hamlet: 4
• Village: 10
• Small Town: 15
• Large Town: 25
• Small City: 35
• Large City: 50
• Metropolis: 65

Downtime Activities

Downtime activities are the actions your character undertakes when not adventuring. Common examples include:

• Construct Buildings
• Recruit Organizations
• Run a Business
• Earn Capital
• Craft Magic or Mundane Items
• Promote a Business
• Train Animals
• Heal Others
• Research Spells or Lore
• Retrain Abilities
• Replace Companions
• Prepare for Upcoming Adventures
• Lead Your Kingdom (if applicable)

Followers & Leadership

Characters with the Leadership feat may use their followers to generate additional Influence or Labor (50% efficiency, up to 1 point per 2 followers present).

Capital Conversion

• 3 capital of one type = 1 of another (Goods, Labor, or Influence)
• 5 of any = 1 Magic

Capital as Skill Bonuses

Spend 1 point of Goods, Influence, Labor, or Magic for a +1 bonus to any skill check (maximum +5). The capital must reasonably apply to the task.

"A silver tongue is good. One backed by ten laborers and two favors? Better." — Guildmaster Hadran, The Builder’s Compact

Integration with the Downtime Thread

Each Downtime cycle is declared and resolved within a set Discord thread. Players note their activities and gains, and managers or mods confirm the resolution. Taxation and events are assessed during this process.

Narrative Impact

Downtime actions influence the world. A business can attract attention. A temple might grow a following—or draw a rival sect. The more a character invests in the world, the more the world notices.

"I raised a statue. The town raised one next to it, shorter. That’s politics." — Knight-Commander Halvar, on Founding Day at Steelmere

Downtime During Adventures

“Even while your blade is drawn or your fate is unfolding, the world keeps turning—and so do the quiet routines behind the scenes.”
— Archivist Meryn, Keeper of the Living Ledger

Downtime Happens in the Background

In Æther, Downtime Tokens represent a week’s worth of background activity, and are not bound to the exact chronology of in-character time. This system is designed to simulate the kind of passive, ongoing development and tasks your character might be doing while adventuring, not in spite of it.

• You may use up to 7 DT per week, regardless of whether your character is currently adventuring, sleeping, wounded, or otherwise tied up in an active scene.
• These tokens do not roll over to future weeks if unused.

Downtime and Active Scenes

When you're involved in an active adventure (such as a mission run by a GM or a major solo plot), you may feel like your character is "locked" in the story and can't do downtime. That is not the case.

• Downtime is abstracted. It runs in the background of your adventuring life. It is not meant to match the precise time passing in active story scenes.
• Do not try to sync adventure timelines and downtime timelines. Adventures may take place over hours, days, or weeks of in-world time—but your DT still reflects a constant, weekly flow of side activity.
• Whether your character is in a dungeon, imprisoned, or sailing across the sea with a GM-led party, they may still spend their weekly DT as normal—unless the adventure explicitly says otherwise. You may even include their active adventuring status within your downtime, such as training EXP in a dungeon.

Why This Matters

Trying to map downtime 1:1 with narrative time will only slow things down and complicate the system. Æther is structured like a living MMO world, where your character’s growth, research, crafting, training, or personal projects continue in the meta-time of the server—even while dramatic adventures unfold.

This system:

• Keeps things balanced for everyone
• Ensures smooth tracking for GMs and players
• Encourages consistent character growth between scenes

In Short:

• Yes, you still get and can use downtime while on adventures.
• No, you don’t need to pause your downtime because your character is "busy."
• Yes, you can spread out or lump your DT however you want in a given week.
• No, adventures and downtime are not running on a synchronized timeline.

If you’re in doubt, remember: Downtime is what your character gets done while you're not watching.