How do you work with events that require weeks of time?

[bookish]

So, I am reading the manual, and there are a couple of instances in which events are supposed to take time. Mostly, concerning wizards. So, a spell is supposed to take a week to learn. How am I supposed to represent that in play? I am also pretty certain that events like making magical weapons take large amounts of time. Sometimes, characters need large amounts of time to recover. So, before I ever encounter something like this, tell me how such events are supposed to play out. I don't think it will be fair to tailor games to tasks that wizards have to complete just to get materials and time to learn new spells. I am open to suggestions and a better understanding of mechanics of time in table-top RPGs. Thanks!

[Raven_Crowking]

It depends.

If time is cheap, then you say "Okay, you spend two weeks in the village while Bob the Mage learns his spell. It costs you X gp each if you wish to live well, or y sp if you wish to live less well." (You might consider some consequences for both, such as a table of condition changes, with people who are big spenders potentially attracting thieves, con artists, and hangers on, while people who live less well might have to deal with disease and malnutrition.)

If time is short, you might just continue to narrate game time at a different rate. I.e., "So, you've decided to stay two weeks in the village? You have been there only two days when...." and then allow the players to react to events, or ignore events, with the understanding that events may decide not to ignore them.

[finarvyn]

Raven_Crowking speaks great wisdom.

Time can be a resource, just like hit points or other consumables, and so I think that time is one of those things that need to be judged on a case-by-case basis. It all comes down to the structure of the campaign and whether events have to occur at a particular time.

For example, if I give my players a quest that needs to be finished by the next full moon, I may be trying to keep my players from trying certain things that require a lot of time. In this case I'm limiting the time resource.

On the other hands, many of my campaigns are very sandbox and player-driven. There are no time constraints and so I'm willing to hand-wave a little.

[GnomeBoy]

There is a bit of a schizophrenic split in the rules themselves...

One the one hand, at 1st Level, you gain spells, and it is assumed that you've been working on these and they have just now become clear to you... As you level up, you gain new spells (presumably by similar means).

On the other, is the info on pgs 314-315, which detail the process of adding a new spell to your roster. It takes time and it takes a skill check to see if you've mastered it or not.

So...

If someone is leveling up, and is just going to roll for new spells at random, it could be similar to the first option.

But if someone has discovered something new to them along the path of exploration, the second option sounds good. They pour a great deal of time into a 'crash course' of the new spell. This time may pay off, or it may not.


In either case, however you decide to handle it, consider this: even students cramming for finals still find time to go out. That week of study doesn't have to mean that the Wizard is locked in an ivory tower, just hitting the books, with the rest of the party twiddling their thumbs. There could be adventuring on the side, so to speak. The study might even take the form of an adventure! The Wizard has to explore some kind of mysteries that lay forgotten by men for centuries, but if he can interact with them, he gains the insight needed to cast the new spell.

So there's more than one way to handle it, when if comes to spells.

As for recovery time, well, there are such things as games that don't involve combat. Maybe the party can get caught up in some political shenanigans, or even a personal situation that involves family members or NPCs they've befriended through the campaign... Or y'know, just hand-wave it -- "Two weeks later, you're all rested and recovered when suddenly..."

[Raven_Crowking]

On the other hands, many of my campaigns are very sandbox and player-driven. There are no time constraints and so I'm willing to hand-wave a little.

Just to be clear, I think that time can be an extremely important resource in a sandbox.

Imagine that the judge has created a sandbox that includes elements not only of place, but also events that will occur unless the PCs act to change them. For instance, if using the 1e Oriental Adventures events tables, the judge could determine that a town will be attacked by bandits on such-and-such a day, and that, without intervention, the bandits will be successful, and mount a larger raid at another time.

War, invasions, plagues, bandit activity, or monster activity might occur during a period of "downtime", requiring the PCs to prioritize. But not all constraints need be negative - if the eminent sage the PCs have wished to consult will be in the district for a conclave of wizards, the players may choose to postpone downtime to seek an audience.

You can allow years to pass with a few sentences, merely letting the players know the important local events that occurred during that time. Or, while the players are making plans to hole up for a month, you can let them know that they hear news a day later that might concern them. They can choose to pursue it or not.

It all depends upon where your interest lies, where the interests of your players lie, and what kind of interesting choices you wish the game to present them.

Personally, I prefer the PCs not to run from one adventure to the next. I like them to feel as though they have lives between harrowing escapades. But I do not want to foster certainty that downtime will always be uninterrupted. Do you risk tapping out with spellburn? It's an easier (and therefore, less interesting/dramatic) decision if you know you won't be in the field during the next 20 days.

[Raven_Crowking]

In either case, however you decide to handle it, consider this: even students cramming for finals still find time to go out. That week of study doesn't have to mean that the Wizard is locked in an ivory tower, just hitting the books, with the rest of the party twiddling their thumbs. There could be adventuring on the side, so to speak. The study might even take the form of an adventure! The Wizard has to explore some kind of mysteries that lay forgotten by men for centuries, but if he can interact with them, he gains the insight needed to cast the new spell.

You should never have the other players sitting around while the Wizard studies. You have a few options:

(1) Either move the time forward, and let the Wizard player roll to see if the new spell was learned.

(2) Tie the next adventure into learning the spell, as GnomeBoy suggests.

(3) If the Wizard's player can't make a session or two, let the others go on a side adventure while he studies.

In the case of (2), I would still keep the time requirement, and make the adventure an additional cost, in most cases. "Guys, if I can get the horn of a unicorn, I can cast magic missile!" or "Guys, I learned magic missile, but the mercurial effect really sucks. If I can get the horn of a unicorn for my patron, I can get a different effect!" or "Guys, I learned magic missile, but I need to drink an infusion of powdered unicorn horn by the next full moon or the spell will fade from my mind."

You have a lot of options.

[Stretch]

In regards to spell research and traveling, adventuring wizards I have always thought they did most of the work in the field.

Because I don't know about you, but I never come up with all my ideas when I am sitting down reading over things that might play into the next adventure.

Most of my better ideas come when I am out walking the dog or washing dishes or taking a shower. Doing anything else but actually sitting and reading and working.

I see wizards as being no different. So that research time has already been paid for the most part.

Every time they are in town the wizard is making notes, leaving formulas up on his white board and making adjustments to them when he returns based off ideas he had in the field. When the wizard levels it is assumed that he has everything he needs to learn one new spell and so he gets to make his roll towards the spell he was working on (if he has a specific spell in mind) or just randomly on a list if not, because sometimes we learn something else when we go in search of specific knowledge. If he has room for more spells than he has to start the process all over of research and travel. Just because you level and get a two new spell slots doesn't mean you get them right away.

Also a question here that I don't think I have seen addressed or I just missed it. A wizard with a 14 intelligence gets +1 spell. At first level that means he can know 5 spells (4 for level) at a max level of 1. When he makes second level does his known spells go up to 5 or 6. IE is he getting that +1 spell per level as he would hit points with a Sta bonus or is it a one time bonus?

[ragboy]

I use an actual calendar in my games -- even if we handwave a week of recovery, I take note of it on the calendar. This allows me to set timeframes for certain things that are out of the character's control -- for instance, they released an undead general and his horde from the Barrowmaze. The general has very specific aims once he's freed, and I throw a time estimate at it, note major events related to this on the calendar, and let various rumors fly as things start to heat up. It's up to the characters to respond. This also allows me to keep track of character actions, major events in their lives, etc.

This gives characters some hooks that come up in a given timeframe, but it also allows them to make choices -- do we go after the undead general or are we too beat up?

Either way, I try to keep my campaign persistent. I always marveled at Tolkien's "campaign record" in Return of the King. Like Frodo taking ill each year on the anniversary of his injury from the Ringwraiths.

I'd also look at Ruins of the Undercity -- he has a great events table that you can take and easily modify for any campaign/system. Within the context of the book, the characters have certain goals that they can achieve (like becoming a lich-thief). Certain events are requirements for those goals. This could easily be adapted to something like deity quests for a cleric, a table of "favors" for a patron (supernatural or not), chances to gain contacts in local areas (thieves' guild, etc).

[bookish]

I didn't get back to replying after reading this thread a while back, but I found it all very useful. So, just following up to show that it was appreciated!