The Directed Downtime Action System

I've been planning on running a Changeling: The Lost LARP since just before the pandemic hit, so I've had a lot of time to plan things out, and to make tweaks and changes to the usual live action format for a New World of Darkness game. However, it was pointed out by some of my players that the experience point earnings for a LARP (especially one that, at time of writing, only meets once per month) was going to leave characters on a very slow growth track.

Rather than just doling out more XP, I created something I call the Directed Downtime Action System. In short, it allows players to focus their downtime actions taken between games to develop their character further, and to directly put dots on their sheets. When combined with experience points, this system allows one to focus on refining who their characters are, and what they can do, in a way that gives players more control over their growth.

So I thought I would share this system for anyone else who might want to make use of it!

The Directed Downtime Action System

The directed downtime action system means that in the time between games, characters are actively pursuing particular ends, or completing specific tasks. The idea behind this is that, rather than just being given an XP reward for participating in game, characters will be able to accomplish specific goals and achieve specific ends that are directly tied to the actions they’ve taken.

As an example, say that your changeling has an average Strength (2 dots). They decide they want to get stronger. How they do this might vary; they could take on a new and unique diet of goblin fruits, make bargains with hobgoblins, hit the gym with a personal trainer from the Summer Court, or some combination of all of these things. By taking actions to achieve this goal, a character will be able to directly increase that attribute.

This system will apply to every aspect of a character, including Wyrd and Clarity. The exception is that neither Wyrd nor Clarity will have a set cost outlined below, but will be figured out on a case-by-case basis, as the tasks for increasing these may be very dangerous in the case of the one, and the strategy/plan will likely be unique to every individual who attempts to increase their fae nature, or get a grip on their own mind once again.

Costs

Characters receive a specific number of downtime actions per month (Resolve +1), with particular merits granting bonus downtime actions (Good Time Management grants an additional action for mostly mental-based tasks, Staff, Retainer, Allies, and Contacts all allow for additional DT actions taken by these NPCs on your behalf, etc.). Players must spend a certain number of these downtime actions in order to increase an aspect of their character.

Players must spend a number of dedicated downtime actions equal to the new dot of a category. So to take the above example, a player would need to spend 3 downtime actions to increase their Strength from 2 dots to 3 dots. This same formula applies to skills, merits, and Contracts/Clauses, with the exception of non-affinity Contracts/Clauses; you must spend twice the number of dedicated downtime actions per the new dot to acquire those in this way. So if you were not an ogre, but you wanted to learn Might of The Terrible Brute (the first dot of the Contracts of Stone), then you would have to use 2 downtime actions to learn it, whereas an ogre could do it in a single action.

The only limitation in how one increases aspects of their character in this way is that you may only add a single dot to a particular aspect per month with your downtime actions. So while a character could gain a new skill with downtime actions (say your fresh-from-the-Hedge Lost is tired of not knowing how technology works, and dedicates themselves to getting the first dot of Computers), they could not increase that skill by a second dot during that month with downtime actions. They could work on a different skill if they so chose, but they could not add to the same skill in this way. This is the same for increasing an attribute, learning multiple Clauses of the same Contract, buying multiple dots of an ascending cost merit (something like Resources, where you can have anywhere from 1-5 dots), and so on.

While this limitation does apply to a Hollow, one may use downtime actions to increase different aspects of a hollow multiple times per month. So while you can only increase its Size by 1, you could also add Wards, Doors, Amenities, etc., treating those as separate categories.

Lastly, there is no limitation on how one spends their XP. So if you really want to increase a single category by multiple dots, you may use a combination of XP and dedicated downtime actions to do so.

Automatic and Non-Automatic Increases

Lastly, while many of these downtime actions may be transactional (if your character dedicates time to learning a new skill, training an attribute, etc., they just get the increase), others may still require successful pulls before the success goes on your sheet.

A good example is Hedgespinning. Making specific tokens in this way still takes time, and still requires a certain number of successes to make the item. Growing/Crossbreeding goblin fruit, adding Doors to a hollow, etc. are actions that have dice pools in the book, and players will need to succeed at those things as part of taking these actions. This may also play into increasing one’s Wyrd, depending on how powerful they’re attempting to become, and what actions they’re taking/costs they’re paying.

Spend Your Actions Wisely

It is also important to remember that downtime actions can still be used in other ways, and that those may be just as important as refining one’s abilities. Whether it’s keeping an eye on freehold enemies, setting up security measures, making sure you aren’t being found by certain people, etc., not every action you can take will have a specific line item on your character sheet it goes toward. I will attempt to make sure that there is some kind of benefit for taking actions whenever I can (whether it’s gaining allies over time, granting situational bonuses to you/negatives to your enemies as a result of your actions, etc.), but I wanted to have a caveat to remind everyone to keep an eye on what’s going on around you, and to choose your actions accordingly.

Would You Like More World of Darkness Content?

If you enjoyed this little creation of mine, and you'd like more World/Chronicles of Darkness content, check out some of my other articles like:

- 5 Tips For Running "Changeling: The Lost" Games

- 5 Tips For Running Better World of Darkness Games

- 5 Films You Should Watch To Really "Get" Changeling: The Lost

If you're in the market for additional resources, don't forget to check out my line of World/Chronicles of Darkness TTRPG supplements, in addition to the show Discussions of Darkness that I host over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel!

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