Downtime

Your character can participate in the downtime activities before, during, or after a session. You can use the downtime activities found in the Player’s Handbook as well as those that follow; other activities are allowed if outlined in other campaign documents. You don’t pay lifestyle when spending downtime.

Catching Up

“Catching Up” is available at 4th, 10th, and 16th level. By spending downtime as follows, your character advances to the next level:

Sometimes the rest of your party levels up a bit before you do. Instead of watching them go on higher-level adventures while leaving you at home, you can catch up. When you’re catching up, your character is assumed to be going on a small side adventure, such as guarding a caravan or patrolling the wilderness.

Copying Spells

Characters copying spells into a spellbook must use this downtime activity. You spend up to 8 hours copying spells into your spellbook and/or making their spellbook available for other characters to copy from for each downtime day you spend. Characters playing the same adventure together can “trade” spells with each other using this activity. Each wizard has their own “language” used for scribing spells and can’t benefit from the Help action when scribing — even if assisted by other wizards. You must pursue this downtime activity in the presence of your table’s DM.

Crafting

You can craft non-magical objects, including adventuring equipment and works of art. You must be proficient with tools related to the object you are trying to create (typically artisan's tools). You might also need access to special materials or locations necessary to create it. For example, someone proficient with smith's tools needs a forge in order to craft a sword or suit of armor. Potions of healing are treated as non-magical objects for the purpose of crafting.

For every day of downtime you spend crafting, you can craft one or more items with a total market value not exceeding 5 gp, and you must expend raw materiaIs worth half the total market value. If something you want to craft has a market value greater than 5 gp, you make progress every day in 5 gp increments until you reach the market value of the item. For example, a suit of plate armor (market value 1,500 gp) takes 300 days to craft. D&D Adventurers League play does not support multiple characters combining their downtime days toward the crafting of a single item.

While crafting, you can maintain a modest lifestyle without having to pay 1 gp per day, or a comfortable lifestyle at half the normal cost.

Can I Help Other Characters Craft Mundane Items?

Characters using the Crafting downtime activity may be assisted by other characters (provided they're proficient with the requisite tools). Characters assisting the crafting character must be at the same table as the character (meaning that this assistance can only be rendered during an adventure session--complete with DM). The assisting character can contribute a number of downtime days (but not other resources such as gold, etc.; these are the crafting character's sole responsibility) not to exceed the number of downtime days that the crafting character spends during the session. So if Character A (proficient in smiths' tools) is crafting a silvered longsword worth 115 gp (23 downtime days) and spends 12 downtime days during the session crafting the weapon, Character B (who is also proficient in smiths' tools) can contribute up to 12 of her own downtime days towards Character A's progress. Doing so would allow Character A to craft the longsword, spending 57 gp, 5 sp, and 12 downtime, and with Character A spending 11 of her own downtime to help out.

Brewing Potions of Healing

Potions of healing fall into a special category for item crafting. A character who has proficiency with the herbalism kit and a herbalism kit available can create these potions.

Scribing a Spell Scroll

You must know or be able to prepare a spell before you can scribe it to a spell scroll. This cost is in addition to the spell’s component cost.

With time and patience, a spellcaster can transfer a spell to a scroll, creating a spell scroll.

Resources. Scribing a spell scroll takes an amount of time and money related to the level of the spell the character wants to scribe, as shown in the Spell Scroll Costs

table below. In addition, the character must have proficiency in the Arcana skill and must provide any material components required for the casting of the spell. Moreover,

the character must have the spell prepared, or it must be among the character's known spells, in order to scribe a scroll of that spell.

If the scribed spell is a cantrip, the version on the scroll works as if the caster were 1st level.

Complications. Crafting a spell scroll is a solitary task, unlikely to attract much attention. The complications that arise are more likely to involve the preparation needed for the activity. Every 10 days spent scribing brings a 10 percent chance of a complication, examples of which are on the table below.

Escape the Mists

A character with the Demiplane of Dread story award can gain the Escape the Mists story award after paying 20 Downtime days to leave Ravenloft. The Downtime day cost is modified as follows:

• • +10 Downtime Days. Touched by the Mists – For each time the character has died, been brought back to life by the mists, and gained the Touched by the Mists story award.

  • +5 Downtime Days. Enmity of Jeny Greenteeth – A character with the Enmity of Jeny Greenteeth story award (from DDAL04-06 The Ghost) has not only angered the hag but the mists themselves.

  • +5 Downtime Days. You Murderer – A character with the You Murderer story award (from DDAL04-08 The Broken One) has killed villagers of Orașnou. The Dark Powers’ grip on them is tight.

  • +5 Downtime Days. Cursed by Greed – A character with the Cursed by Greed story award (from DDAL04-09 The Tempter) has given in to greed at the behest of the Dark Powers. Leaving Ravenloft will be difficult as a result.

  • +10 Downtime Days. Escape the Mists – Each time a character escapes the mists, but then returns to Barovia, escaping again gets progressively harder. If a character does not have enough Downtime days to escape the mists, they are stuck in Barovia forever. To gain downtime days, a player should play more Curse of Strahd adventures or be a Dungeon Master to gain DM rewards to award to a character to escape Barovia.

Practicing a Profession

You can use this downtime activity to maintain a lifestyle, effectively spending your downtime to keep a standard of living. This benefit lasts as long you continue to practice your profession, but does not allow other downtime activity.

• You can work between adventures. allowing you to maintain a modest lifestyle without having to pay 1 gp per day.

• If you are a member of an organization that can provide gainful employment, such as a temple or a thieves' guild. you earn enough to support a comfortable lifestyle instead.

• If you have proficiency in the Performance skill and put your performance skill to use during your downtime, you earn enough to support a wealthy lifestyle instead.

Recuperating

If you’re affected by a debilitating injury, disease, or poison and you haven’t found a way to get rid of it by the end of an episode or an adventure, you can use downtime to attempt to shake it off. After three days of downtime spent recuperating, you can make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. If you don’t succeed, or if you don’t spend downtime days to rid yourself of the condition, you begin the next episode or adventure affected by it. On a successful save, you can choose one of the following results:

• End one effect on you that prevents you from regaining hit points.

• For the next 24 hours, gain advantage on saving throws against one disease or poison currently affecting you.

Researching

The time between adventures is a great chance to perform research, gaining insight into mysteries that have unfurled over the course of the campaign. Research can include poring over dusty tomes and crumbling scrolls in a library or buying drinks for the locais to pry rumors and gossip from their lips.

When you begin your research, the DM determines whether the information is available, how many days of downtime it will take to find it, and whether there are any restrictions on your research (such as needing to seek out a specific individual, tome. or location). The DM might also require you to make one or more ability checks. such as an Intelligence (Investigation) check to find clues pointing toward the information you seek, or a Charisma (Persuasion) check to secure someone's aid. Once those conditions are met, you learn the information if it is available.

For each day of research. you must spend 1 gp to cover your expenses.

Spellcasting Services

You can spend 1 downtime day to have an NPC cast a spell for you. Alternatively, you can use this downtime activity to cast a spell yourself or benefit from a spell cast by another character that is at the same table as you without the need for resources such as spell slots, etc. The DM alone has ultimate discretion on whether use of downtime is feasible during the session (i.e., there are multiple days of inactivity that make it an option).

Any settlement the size of a town or larger can normally provide some spellcasting services, which always have a cost associated with them. Your character needs to be able to travel to the settlement to obtain these services.

Trading Permanent Magic Items

Permanent magic items can be traded on a one-for-one basis for items of the same rarity. Only tier 4 characters can trade legendary items. Unique magic items or magic items without remaining magical properties can’t be traded. Each party to the trade must spend 15 downtime days unless they’re playing at the same table. Certificates (if present) must accompany the trade or be destroyed. In the event of conflict, the Dungeon Master’s Guide determines an item’s rarity and properties.

Upon completing the trade, an entry must be created on each character's log sheet indicating who they traded with (and their DCI number if they have one), the item traded away, and the item received in exchange. Magic items can't be given away to another character; a permanent magic item must be received in return.

• Houserule: Trading is restricted to Tier appropriate rarity items?

Training

You can spend time between adventures learning a new language or training with a set of tooIs. Your DM might allow additional training options.

First, you must find an instructor willing to teach you. The DM determines how long it takes. and whether one or more ability checks are required.

The training lasts for 250 days and costs 1 gp per day. After you spend the requisite amount of time and money, you learn the new language or gain proficiency with the new tool.

Other Activities

Certain adventures might have special downtime activities available, and higher-ranking faction members get access to special downtime activities exclusive to their faction.

• • Repeating Downtime Activities. Any downtime activity found outside of the ALPG and PHB can be used only once unless it says otherwise.

Carousing

If a adventure session describes this option, characters can spend 5 downtime days engaged in a variety of hedonistic activities such as attending parties, binge drinking, gambling, or anything else that helps them cope with the perils they face on their adventures. A carousing character spends money as though maintaining a wealthy lifestyle. At the end of the period spent carousing, the player rolls percentile dice and adds the character’s level, then compares the total to the Carousing table to determine what happens to the character.

Houserule: the calculations that show your odds.

Recording Downtime

To record your downtime activity, simply deduct the days from your total on your adventure logsheet. Make a note of your downtime activity and the total number of days used toward it in the adventure notes section.

For example, if you wanted to train to learn the Gnomish language and you spent 10 days doing so, you’d write Training: Gnomish (10) after the first time you spent downtime toward this activity, and deduct 10 days from your downtime total. If you spend 5 days later on, you’d write Training: Gnomish (15) in your notes section, and deduct 5 more days from your downtime total.