Downtime

Between events your character can do things to help their exploits in the next event.

Downtime can be used to do one of:

• Gather rumours
• Investigate a group or topic
• Gather Items
• Engineer an encounter to happen in uptime.
• Take part in an opportunity offered in uptime.
• Untrain one skill and/or codify an improvised ritual.

Downtime cannot directly affect the world. All events that actually affect the world will happen in uptime (possibly in encounters arranged in downtime).

There may be opportunities to take part in events during the week, which will be arranged in uptime. You can take part in these, in which case you will experience those events (and therefore get information about them), and people will probably notice your association with those events. Your personal participation won’t significantly affect the outcome.

When you untrain a skill, it must not be a prerequisite for any other skills you know.

You can feel free to narrate minor actions, which can have personal significance, but can have no effect on the wider world. You cannot send letters to or have conversations with world NPCs; if you wish to do this arrange an uptime meeting or use the uptime skills to send a message. You can however narrate sending letters and having conversations with personal NPCs, such as characters in your backstory or your personal Contacts. Having a think about upcoming projects and experiments you’d like to do are excellent minor actions (you may not come to any great realisations, but letting refs know what you’d like to do means they can can make better calls when you do it).

If you don't submit a downtime, you can choose to gather Ducatto or rumours at the start of next interactive. For up to two missed weeks in a row you will still gather Ducatto or rumours (this is to allow people with intermittent attendance to come back with resources and plot to catch up with). If you monstered a linear and didn't play one, or monstered in the interactive for 30 minutes or more, you can also gather Ducatto or rumours. If you qualify for more than one of the above, you can only gather rumours once per interactive you attend (and will always gather Ducatto with the rest).

Writing a Downtime

Downtime is designed to create opportunities to do things in uptime, rather than as a tool to affect the world itself.

• Help, I have no plot and want some! -> Gather Rumours.

Rumours are a way to get hooks to things that are going on. Chances are it's either something brewing, or it's information relevant to another player right now, and offering it to them might get you involved in what they're doing.

• I have a line on some plot, but don't know what to do with it -> Investigate.

Investigating a topic you already have some information about might give you more information and let you formulate a plan, or make you better prepared for it if it appears in uptime on its own.

• I know what I want to do, but need something specific to do it -> Gather Items.

If it's something simple like Ducatto, you may just find it. If you attempt to gather something that's rare, your efforts will yield information on how to get it, or an uptime encounter with someone who can.

• I know what what I want to do, and want to meet some specific NPCs to make it happen -> Engineer an encounter.

If you have a specific idea in mind, this is how to progress that idea. If you want to persuade some people of a course of action, set up a meeting with them. If you need an item and know who has it, ask them to bring it to the venue (you can then try to trade for it, try to steal it from them, or whatever). If you want to set two groups on each other, invite them both and see if you can engineer an incident between them. If you want to kill someone, invite them to a "parley", along with some assassins... The encounter isn't guaranteed to take the form you intend, but it's almost certain that something will happen as a result of your efforts.

Example

Downtime:
I've heard of a new criminal group moving in to Clare. Send a message to House Luciano warning them of this.

I had a lovely chat with Bob the Elemental last linear. I plan to summon Bob and talk more about what we can do for each other. I'm considering sacrificing the ability to use an umbrella on Tuesdays for Infinite Cosmic Power.

Response:
House Luciano are interested and would like to meet you face to face to talk about this new group and what you can do together to counter them.
Sending messages to world NPCs does nothing in itself, so this instead caused an uptime encounter.

Thanks for letting us know, we look forward to you summoning Bob and wish you luck trying this... ambitious... bargain.