Heroic though they might be,
Adventurers can’t spend every hour of the day in the thick of
Exploration,
Social Interaction, and
combat. They need rest—time to sleep and eat, tend their wounds, refresh their minds and spirits for
spellcasting, and brace themselves for further
Adventure.
Adventurers can take
short rests in the midst of an
Adventuring day and a
long rest to end the day.
A
Short Rest is a period of
Downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.
A character can spend one or more
Hit Dice at the end of a
Short Rest, up to the character’s maximum number of Hit
Dice, which is equal to the character’s level. For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and adds the character’s
Constitution modifier to it. The character regains
hit points equal to the total. The player can decide to spend an additional Hit Die after each roll. A character regains some spent Hit
Dice upon finishing a
long rest, as explained below.
A
Long Rest is a period of extended
Downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps or performs light activity: reading, talking, eating, or standing watch for no more than 2 hours. If the rest is interrupted by a period of strenuous activity—at least 1 hour of walking,
Fighting,
casting spells, or similar
Adventuring activity—the
Characters must begin the rest again to gain any benefit from it.
At the end of a
Long Rest, a character regains all lost
hit points. The character also regains spent
Hit Dice, up to a number of dice equal to half of the character’s total number of them (minimum of one die). For example, if a character has eight Hit
Dice, he or she can regain four spent Hit
Dice upon finishing a
Long Rest.
A character can’t benefit from more than one
Long Rest in a 24-hour period, and a character must have at least 1
hit point at the start of the rest to gain its benefits.
Between trips to
Dungeons and battles against ancient evils,
Adventurers need time to rest,
recuperate, and prepare for their next
Adventure. Many
Adventurers also use this time to perform other tasks, such as
crafting arms and
armor,
performing research, or spending their hard-earned gold.
In some cases, the
Passage of time is something that occurs with little fanfare or description.
When starting a new
Adventure, the GM might simply declare that a certain amount of time has passed and allow you to describe in
General Terms what your character has been doing. At other times, the GM might want to keep track of just how much time is passing as events beyond your
Perception stay in motion.
Between
Adventures, you choose a particular quality of life and pay the cost of maintaining that
lifestyle.
Living a particular lifestyle doesn’t have a huge
Effect on your character, but your lifestyle can affect the way other
Individuals and
Groups react to you. For example, when you lead an
Aristocratic lifestyle, it might be easier for you to
Influence the nobles of the city than if you live in poverty.
Between
Adventures, the GM might ask you what your character is doing during his or her
Downtime. Periods of
Downtime can vary in
Duration, but each
Downtime activity requires a certain number of days to complete before you gain any benefit, and at least 8 hours of each day must be spent on the
Downtime activity for the day to count. The days do not need to be consecutive. If you have more than the minimum amount of days to spend, you can keep doing the same thing for a longer period of time, or switch to a new
Downtime activity.
Downtime activities other than the ones presented below are possible. If you want your character to spend his or her
Downtime performing an activity not covered here, discuss it with your GM.
You can craft nonmagical
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.
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 materials 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 by yourself.
Multiple
Characters can combine their efforts toward the
Crafting of a single item, provided that the
Characters all have
proficiency with the requisite
tools and are
Working Together in the same place.
Each character contributes 5 gp worth of effort for every day spent helping to craft the item. For example, three
Characters with the requisite
tool proficiency and the proper facilities can craft a suit of
plate armor in 100 days, at a total cost of 750 gp.
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.
You can work between
Adventures, allowing you to maintain a modest
lifestyle without having to pay 1 gp per day. This benefit lasts as long you continue to practice your profession.
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.
You can use
Downtime between
Adventures to recover from a debilitating injury,
disease, or
poison.
After three days of
Downtime spent
Recuperating, you can make a DC 15
Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, you can choose one of the following results:
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 locals to pry
Rumors and gossip from their lips.
When you begin your
Research, the GM 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 GM 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. This cost is in addition to your normal
lifestyle expenses.
You can spend time between
Adventures learning a new
language or
Training with a set of
tools. Your GM might allow additional
Training options.
First, you must find an
Instructor willing to teach you. The GM 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.
