Downtime & Journal Guidelines

Downtimes are actions used to perform tasks in the day to day life of a Kindred. This can be a wide variety of items, such as crafting, feeding, patrolling, etc. You automatically start with 3 downtime actions you can spend; some skills and powers can provide additional downtime actions and character journaling can provide a final bonus downtime action. In our game, downtimes are due each month on the 8th and 22nd of the month. Downtimes can be turned using links in Start Here!

Miscellaneous Actions

 * 1) Influence Attacks - for every 2 levels of influence used against someone, that usage eats up 1 downtime. If this goes above your total number of downtimes to combat the influence usage, you lose your downtimes for one game period.
 * 2) Obtaining Items - You can expend a downtime to obtain more complex items (simple items don't follow this rule. To clarify, talk w/ game staff).
 * 3) Equipment: Streamlined quality - 1/2 time on tasks that require downtimes.

Backgrounds

 * 1) Recovering Assets (from Overtaxing) - 3 Downtimes
 * 2) Herd - This negates 'typical' feeding downtime use; if you have excess herd, you can extend this to others.
 * 3) Haven (Location) - Anyone using downtimes to negatively affect you must spend double if you have this.

Skills

 * 1) Computers - gives you 1 extra downtime
 * 2) Crafts - Expend 2 downtimes to temporarily increase resources via making/selling items.
 * 3) Medicine - 1 downtime to ID supernatural type (including clan/gen for vampires).
 * 4) Performance - Expend 2 downtimes to temporarily increase Fame.
 * 5) Science - you gain 1 extra downtime, related specifically to a specific science field. These downtimes can stack, as long as different sciences are used for each downtime.
 * 6) Security - Expend 1 downtime to apply security to another's haven (lasts 1 year).

Learning a Discipline

 * 1) Out of Clan Common Discipline - 1 Downtime from Student
 * 2) Rare Discipline - 2 Downtimes from Student
 * 3) Techniques - 1 Downtime

Discipline Specific

 * 1) Restoring Memories - If you are trying to undo Dominate, you must spend 1 downtime (for both the subject and the Dominate user) to restore lost memories.
 * 2) Piskies Assistance - 1 free downtime used during game session or as an addition to your downtimes (untraceable/unwatchable). If you have the focus, you can do one of each action (but not 2 during, or 2 during downtimes - one of each only).
 * 3) Call of the Hungry Dead - strips away 1 downtime action on target.
 * 4) Warding Circle - long term ward requires you spend 1 downtime (lasts 1 year and 1 day)
 * 5) Soul of the Homunculi - +2 downtime actions
 * 6) Zombies - cannot perform downtimes
 * 7) Wraiths - cannot perform downtimes

Techniques

 * 1) Animal Succulence - No downtime needed, if feeding from animals

Merits/Flaws
Certain flaws may increase your feeding downtimes, depending on circumstances.
 * 1) Merits can be removed by spending 1 downtime, provided the merit is not integral to your concept.
 * 2) Efficient Learner - no downtime is needed to learn disciplines; one less needed for rare disciplines.
 * 3) Disease Carrier - must spend 1 extra downtime to make sure you aren't spreading disease.
 * 4) Hunted - must spend 2 downtimes to avoid people hunting you.
 * 5) Methuselah's Thirst - no amount of downtimes you spend will let you come in at full blood.
 * 6) Antiquities - you can spend 1 downtime to add 'antique' to an item you are crafting.
 * 7) Black Sheep - you lose one downtime action a month due to avoiding the Camarilla and proving your Anarch commitment.

Feeding
All feeding requires you spend 1 downtime (unless you have Herd). If you do not, you start at half blood, rounded up.

OOC Feeding Mechanics Explanation
Characters are assumed to start the night at full minus one blood if they have spent a downtime on feeding on the most recent set of downtimes or have an available dot of Herd to use. If they do not, they are assumed to start the night at half blood minus one. If a character needs to acquire more blood outside of their downtimes, they may contact the STs in their ST Log to run a feeding scene (quest).

Joining a Path
Joining a path requires you expend 9 downtime actions; these don't have to be all at once, but must spend at least 1 downtime on this each month. If you have no teacher for said path, it takes 18 downtimes.

Status

 * 1) Triumphant - Feeding in your sect’s territories reduces by 1 downtime (to min of 0).
 * 2) Veteran - Spend to gain one extra downtime.

Clan Specifics
Salubri Healers - 2 downtimes to feed, instead of 1 Ventrue Disadvantage may require extra downtimes for feeding in certain circumstances

Examples

 * 1) Crafting: Expend 1 downtime to design/build/repair an item.
 * 2) Feeding is 1 downtime; special circumstances such as plot may increase this.
 * 3) Investigation - 1 downtime is required to investigate leads/enemies/strange occurrences or looking for information/research; You must also not forget to expend backgrounds/abilities as appropriate.
 * 4) Patrolling - every downtime spent can increase feeding in your territory by 1 downtime (ex: spend 2 to patrol, it takes someone else 3 to feed in your territory); if they choose to ignore the increase for their feeding downtimes, you risk attack.
 * 5) Beyond your Means - You can spend extra downtimes to do things outside of your Resources ability.

Occasionally, there will be plots that increase/decrease feeding opportunities; these will be posted as announcements as they come up.

Character Journal Guidelines
Character journals are worth one bonus downtime action each downtime cycle. You can add a journal document or subfolder to your Character Folder to house your journal.

Format for Character Journals
Your character journal needs to include the due date of the bonus DT it's granting at the top. It should be roughly two paragraphs and detail something interesting your character is doing or experienced. This can be their thoughts on a previous scene, musings over their current machinations, or even a letter to their sire about the current state of their existence