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Downtime occurs when heroes are in a hospitable environment for a week or longer. Hospital environments can include towns, temples, or other locations in which they are relatively safe and comfortable. The following are some of the things that heroes can do during downtime. Not every downtime location may cater to every single one of the following:

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Build An Institution: When the players decide to build an institution, the GM creates an institution tracker. If the players are bolstering an already existing institution, then the GM decides which step on the tracker it currently occupies. The GM should also take this opportunity to develop some quick notes on the institutional scene as it exists, jotting down a few lines about rival institutions. The player and GM should agree on the fictional and mechanical advantages for moving up the track based on what the institution is and how much of a stake the character has in it.

Benefits:

• goods and services available through the institution free of charge
• may aid in rolls to build relationships
• may entitle you to profit sharing
• may aid in rolls to gather intelligence

Institution Track:

Rank	GP Investment
Inconsequential	500
Minor	1000
Middling	2500
Major	5000
Influential	10,000
Infamous	25,000
Legendary	N/A

• Roll to Progress on the Track: 2d6 + modifier
• Modifier normally +0

• Can make modifier +1 if spending 150%, or +2 if 200%

  Result of 2d6 + modifier roll:

  Total	Meaning
  < 7	The institution tracker does not advance. If it is a new institution, it fails to take hold
  7-9	Growing Pains: The institution tracker advances one step but is subject to growing pains
  10+	Growth: The institution tracker advances one step

Growing Pains (1d10)

1. Envy! Less successful rivals resent the newfound success of the institution. They begin circulating unsavory rumors about the institution that threaten to undermine the whole operation. Something must be done to bolster the institution’s reputation in the next 3 downtimes or it will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

2. Competition! New peer rivals step up the competition, ruthlessly cutting prices or stealing current patrons, in an effort to strangle the upstart. Something must be done to overcome this problem in the next 3 downtimes or it will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

3. Emulation! The sudden rise of the institution has led to rampant emulation. Whatever your institution’s thing is, suddenly everyone is doing that thing, in the most aggravating way possible. Unless the institution somehow distinguishes itself in the next 3 downtimes, it will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

4. Puritanical Opprobrium! The rising institution has been chosen as an example of the rot within society by some zealous sect, grasping politician, self-righteous reformer, or two-bit orator. There are rising protests, speeches, or boycotts against the institutions. Something must be done in the next two downtimes or it will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

5. Shortage! Owing to its recent success, something necessary for growth of the institution is now in short supply. Whatever is in short supply will have to be provided in the next 2 downtimes or the institution will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

6. Blackmail! A NPC or faction blackmails the character, threatening the institution to try to get the character to do something for them. If the action is not performed by the end of the next downtime, the institution will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

7. Sabotage! Peer rivals engage in some act of sabotage to ruin their new competitor, e.g., arson, spoiling or poisoning supplies, sneaking a giant spider in the basement, or cursing customers. Something must be done to overcome this problem by the end of the next downtime or it will lose its newfound gains, falling one step on the institution tracker.

8. Unwanted Legal Attention! The growth of the institution attracts the attention of the authorities, who busy themselves with inspections, assessing fees, and so on. To acquire the necessary licenses, the PCs must pay the level of the institution x 300 GP by the next downtime (or find some other solution) or have the institution shuttered.

9. Unwanted Criminal Attention! A criminal outfit notices the success of the institution and decides to shake it down in some aggravating and ongoing way. The character must pay the current institutional level x 100 GP per downtime until the criminal problem is resolved or it will fall one step on the institution tracker for each missed payment.

10. A Dangerous Offer! An institution of one rank higher offers an alliance with the upstart. Accepting means accruing the even more powerful enemies of this institution who will react on the next downtime. Declining means that the higher ranked institution will seek revenge in the near future.

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Carousing/Revelry: Revelry is a downtime action in which a character flush with gold spends it on wild revelries, whether a feast lasting many nights, raucous tavern crawl, or the extended use of mind-altering substances. The player describes where and with whom their character intends to share their revelry keeping in mind that it must involve the expenditure of large sums. The character spends up to Level x 2d4 x 50 GP. This excess provides a rich and memorable experiences.

They roll 2d6 adding a base modifier equal to their constitution modifier.

Result	Meaning
<7	Some Regrets: Receive 1 XP per GP spent but roll on the Revelry Mishaps table
7-9	Wild Experience: Receive 1 XP per GP spent
10+	Something to Remember: Receive 1 XP per GP spent and roll on the Revelry Boons table

Revelry Mishaps (1d8)

1. Hangover! The player suffers –1 on all physical actions next session. The player should describe the hangover and their character’s appearance at the start of the session.

2. Brawl! The character starts the next session 1d4 HP below maximum (min. 1). The player will collaborate with the GM to say who the fight was with and how it ensued.

3. Lost Possession! The player should dice randomly to see which item from their character sheet they lost. If it is an important item, the GM will determine who has it. The character may use the Gather Information downtime action to reveal this information. An adventure or confrontation will usually be required to recover it.

4. Acting the Fool! The player should describe the embarrassing public episode that led to their character’s new bad reputation. They receive –1 on all reaction rolls and attempts to cultivate relationships in the area. This condition can only be removed by succeeding at an adventure that cultivates their renown in the area.

5. Secret Divulged! The character lets slip something crucial they shouldn’t have, like the location of a dungeon, or the possession of a magical weapon. This will come back to haunt them. The player and GM may collaborate on the secret revealed and the GM will decide who has heard, placing the information in the hands of a rival, or the authorities, or creating a rival adventuring party.

6. Offense Given! Either lose 1 tick on a relationship clock or acquire a new rival. The player will narrate who is offended and how in collaboration with the GM.

7. Financial Loss! The character failed at gambling, or made a very imprudent investment, or was conned. The player will narrate this loss in collaboration with the GM. They lose Level x 1d4 x 50 additional GP with no additional XP gain. If they cannot pay, they are now in debt to unsavory characters who will blackmail the character into going on adventures or performing other services for them.

8. Illness! The character has acquired some long-term illness from their revels, whether a parasite from street food, a sexually transmitted disease, or an allergic reaction. The effect should be mild but real. Examples might include needing to eat double rations (for a parasite) or a 1 in 6 chance each session of fevers giving a –1 on all rolls (disease). The cure will usually require an adventure to locate the necessary elements of the cure (rare salts, curative springs, etc).

Revelry Boons (1d8)

1. Magical Night! After a magical night, the character feels like they’re still walking on water. They may take +4 on saving throws for the next session.

2. Carousing Patron! The drinks were freeing flowing over the course of the night, but many of the expenses were covered by a drinking companion. The character retains half the GP spent on carousing but takes the full XP reward.

3. Experience of a Lifetime! The character will never forget this night. The player should share with the group one memory or image or scene from the evening that their character will carry with them forever. They acquire an additional 50% experience bonus from their carousing expenditure.

4. Drinking Friends or Romance! The character shared some special times with an old friend or made a new one. Increase the character’s relationship tracker by one step with this person. The player may pick the NPC, or if it’s a new friend make a proposal to the GM and open a tracker at the acquaintance level.

5. Golden Opportunity! During their revels, the character finds a unique opportunity to set back the interests of a rival by going on an adventure. If the character has no rivals, treat this as the following result.

6. Secret Information! While under the influence, someone lets slip a secret of some significance. The GM should provide the player with real actionable intelligence, ideally in the form of an adventure hook, or at the least something very amusing (and potentially compromising) about a known NPC.

7. Business Prospects! During the revelries, the character is presented with a one-time opportunity to found a new institution. They may pay half price in the next downtime to Build an Institution and take +1 on the roll.

8. Living Legend! It was legendary night, and the character did something amazing that the player may narrate. What the character did is now the talk of the town: receive +1 to reaction rolls and cultivating relationships in the region until their reputation changes.

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Keeping In Form (Combat Sparring)

Anyone may spend a downtime practicing at arms. The player must choose a weapon type (sword, knife, bow, etc) with which their character practices. They roll 2d6. Although any class may keep in form, only fighters (or fighter sub-classes) receive a base modifier equal to 1/3 their level rounded up. Situational modifiers are granted for having a training partner. If the character is assisted by another player character as a training partner, both may take the downtime action adding +1 to their roll.

Result	Meaning
<7	A little rusty. Pick one: +1 to hit, +1 to damage, –1 AC (melee) or +10 ft range (missile) until the next downtime.
7-9	In Good Form: Pick two from the above list.
10+	In Top Form: Pick three from the above list

Wizard-Priest Equivalents of Staying In Form:

• +2 to all saving throws of a particular sort (Poly, Breath, etc.)
• +1 to all saving throws
• +1 to any rolled Surges
• +1 to turn/destroy undead
• +1 bonus to AC

For the Playing Cards Oracle, thoroughly shuffle the 52 card deck. Always reshuffle the deck in between questions you ask this oracle. After shuffling, draw the following number of cards based upon how likely is a Yes answer. If you get at least one face card (jack, queen, or king), it's a "Yes". If you get 2+ face cards (or, if only drawing one card, you get a King), that's a "Yes, but...":

Likelihood	Cards to draw
Almost certain	12 (97.29%)
Extremely likely	10 (94.64%)
Very likely	8 (89.78%)
Somewhat likely	5 (74.68%)
Roughly Half & Half	3 (55.29%)
Unlikely	1 (23.08%)

The Down is vast. The Down is challenging. The Down is weird. The Down is isolated. The Down is inimical. It is the Underdark, the World Below, the Under-Earth. There is no true rest for surface dwellers in The Down.

For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that unless otherwise stated, travel occurs during daylight conditions, and that a single 2-mile hex is traversed hourly. Let's further assume that a character can cover six of these hexes daily — and that this incorporates rest stops, brief hunting for game, time for meals, time for backtracking. That's 12 miles per day with no ticks against Body stress track, so long as weather conditions aren't extreme, there is adequate food and water, and that after such a day's travel you're getting 6+ hours of rest, if not sound sleep.

The above assumptions are for the usual travel circumstances, business as usual. This doesn't preclude the possibility of traveling under cover of complete darkness — although night-time travel in the Endless Rime campaign is usually avoided simply because of plummeting temperatures making it very uncomfortable and hazardous.

Given our "most of the time" travel assumptions outlined in the first paragraph, let's stipulate that daily travel (could be done nightly instead) — minus breaks, hunting, meals — amounts to six hours and covers 12 miles if the terrain isn't difficult. For the sake of game mechanics, we'll break a day's travel into three 2-hour phases: Morning, Midday, Afternoon legs of travel. Under optimal conditions, our PC will travel 4 miles in each of those phases.

There will be some long-time hex crawlers who read this and will argue that a PC can cover 18-24 miles in a day. I will simply say that terrain in 35th millennium B.C. will be assumed to have been extremely rugged, and that this (as well as breaks, hunting, combat, backtrack/re-routing delays, etc.) account for the slower travel.

With regard to the Endless Rime campaign, set in the Upper Neolithic 35,000 years ago, all overland travel counts as hex-crawling, since there are no roads or large man-made landmarks by which to navigate. However, in a later post I will incorporate a mechanic to take into account whether or not a PC has traveled a given hex multiple times and may have developed some internal map of the area and thus have the benefit of familiarity.

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Alternatively, we could use the Kal-Arath Overland Travel algorithm:

Step 1: Determine Weather

Step 2: Am I Lost?

A result of 1-2 on d6 means you are Lost. You don't leave the current hex today, and must spend tomorrow finding your way out of it. You can Forage while Lost, and Weather modifiers apply.

If you are following a river, roadway, or specific landmark, you don't get Lost.

Once Lost, rolls to Get Lost are made at a disadvantage unless a skill mitigates this, and results of 1–2 imply the character is still lost and makes no progress.

Lost characters or parties still roll for POI and Encounters.

Step 3: Forage

If the party chooses or needs to forage for food and water, or other resources, make a roll to determine the success of their efforts.

Weather can affect this.

Foraging reduces the day’s movement to 50% of whatever it would be normally (after considering weather).

Herbs

Step 4: Points of Interest

You find a POI on a 5-6 on d6:

Step 5: Encounters

Determine if the party has an encounter during their travels. On a 5–6, use the encounter chart below. All Encounters then use a Reaction Check to determine disposition, although this can be done using advantage/disadvantage depending on circumstances or what type of creature is encountered:

When an Encounter doesn't immediately jump off into violence, consider using Kate Korsaro's Compass Points to Adventure table.

Step 6: Camp, Spend Resources, and Recover:

At the end of the day’s travel, the party makes camp. They will need to expend a ration and can attempt to heal any wounds or conditions. Check for night-time encounter (1–2 on d6):

Step 7: End of Day / End of Session?

Summarize the day’s events in your journal, update the party’s status, roll for any meaning or turning points if necessary, prepare for the next day of travel, or end your session.

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Danger Dice — a Pressure Mechanism

Each ten minutes in the dungeon, or every two hours traveling overland, if the conditions warrant it add one Danger Die to the Danger Dice pool. The Danger Dice pool starts at zero dice. When four Danger Dice are in the pool, roll the dice. Set Danger Counter to zero. For every die result in the Dice Pool roll that is 5-6, add one to the Danger Counter. Compare the Danger Counter to the table below, and drive the story forward accordingly. Reset Danger Dice pool and Danger Counter to zero.

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"Crying out to Cromm" is, in recent years, the only supernatural means most people are aware of by which they might receive healing. While most gods fled millennia ago, it is believed by many that Cromm remains attentive in this sphere and often answers those who call upon him. Unfortunately, those in political power soon saw Cromm as a means to an end, and in many locales worship of Cromm is state-sponsored, and the state controls the church and its officials.

When you cry out to Cromm for healing, make a Wisdom or Charisma check. If successful, you are healed of 2d6 points of hit point damage. For each successive call out to Cromm in a given day (between long Rests), apply a -3 penalty. If you are crying out to Cromm in the midst of combat or while being chased, apply a -4 penalty. Penalties stack.

Characters were created by deriving rules from the Beyond the Wall system. Character concepts come from two personae in an early 1990s AD&D 2e campaign.

Overlaid onto a majority of BTW's rules are the following house rules:

• Damage
  • Scarlet Heroes style damage:
    • The Fighter-Thief (non dual-classed) gestalt has a d6 Fray die
    • The Wizard-Priest (non dual-classed) gestalt has a d4 Fray die
    • Fray Dice
• Death
  • is permanent; no 'Raise Dead' or 'Resurrection' spells
  • Karma: your next PC has 79 pts distributed across Ability Scores
  • if slain character was level 5+, 80 pts distributed
  • if slain character was level 10+, 81 pts distributed
  • if slain character was level 15+, 82 pts distributed, etc.
  • if slain PC had gained 2+ levels since creation, or ...
  • slain PC involved in 5+ Actual Play reports, then...
    • his/her spirit enters companion's item, giving +1 magical bonus
  • replacement PC starts 1 level lower than perished PC
• Fortune Points (restored after Long Rest)
  • sacrifice a FP to grant Advantage on your (or ally's) next roll
  • if not a Wizard-Priest, sacrifice a FP to cry out to Cromm for healing (2d6)
  • sacrifice a FP to regain two Surges if you're a Wizard-Priest
  • sacrifice a FP to draw +2 cards when using Playing Card Oracle
  • sacrifice a FP to get +1 Initiative for the next 10 rounds
  • sacrifice a FP to add +1 modifier (doesn't stack) to 2d6 roll to advance on a progress track
  • if you have 1+ FP, sacrifice them all: 95% chance plot armor kicks in to save your ass at a cost
• Free Knacks - gain one per level through 9th
  • Tough (multiples stack, 5 max) - gain +3 permanent HP
  • Defensive (take up to twice, stacks) +1 to AC
  • Lucky (apply to different type each time taken) - +2 to one particular saving throw type
  • Fleet - +1 to Initiative (stacks)
  • Great Strike (take only once) - +1 to damage with all weapons
  • Resilience (take only once) - +1 to all saving throws
  • Adept (take only once) - your Surges use d8s, not d6s
  • Savant (pre-req Adept) - your Surges use d10s, not d8s
• Healing
  • regain 1 hp immediately after a melee
  • regain 1 hp after a long rest
  • regain variable hp when wizard-priest or item assists
• Leveling
  • Character Advancement is unlimited in levels
  • Every three levels, increase one stat by one point
  • after level 10, you only gain Con bonus to HP
  • when rolling for additional HP upon leveling, roll with Advantage
    • Wizard-Priests and Rogues use a d8; Fighters a d10
• Spells
  • Surface Wizard-Priests don't cast spells; they enact rituals...
  • casters native to The Down have broader spell abilities
  • many Surface sages will pay handsomely for spellbooks from The Down
• Surges
  • Wizard-Priests get 3 or [level] Surges daily, X equals level, whichever is greater
  • a Healing Surge restores 1d6+Wizard-Priest's level to target within 30 feet...
    • ... or split among multiple targets within 30 feet...
  • a harmful surge takes the form of a Spirit Bolt or Arcane Bolt vs single target
    • these deal (0.5)(1d6 + level), rounded down (min 1), to target within 30 feet
  • fortunate Wizard-Priests have 1+ rituals they can empower with 1+ Surges
• Undead
  • Levels aren't permanent drained by powerful undead
    • restore one level whenever you:
      • (a) get full day of rest and
      • (b) obtain a Remove Curse

• Dorn Stelgaard
• Exodore Swift (slain by beastmen in Arden Vul) metadata: 2.6.2026
• Aele Truemas

For more up-to-date stats, look here.