Note on Work Weeks: For the purposes of this adventure, a “work week” is 5 days of working 8 hours and a “week” is 7 days (24 hours). If an activity requires a work week to complete, but a player wishes to push themselves to earn additional days, they may work additional hours at night or over weekends to make progress at the risk of taking levels of exhaustion that will not recover until a normal work week has elapsed in full. Exhaustion is determined by a DM roll, and a modifier is applied depending on the amount of overtime that was worked. This modifier increases by 1 for every 8 additional hours worked. Additional hours can only be performed in 4 hour increments, but the modifier is rounded up.

Activity Options

This is the list of downtime activities available for the Stormbreaker crew in the Lies of Caius campaign. Some new activities may become available over the course of the adventure, and some side quests may crop up as you get to know your crewmates.

Recruit Crewmates

One work week - overtime unavailable

An assortment of people across the world are looking for work and there are plenty of vacancies to be filled on the Stormbreaker. Any role hired will directly impact the ship’s capabilities (see Ship Integrity and Crew Morale, but will also impact its bottom line.

An ability check is made to attempt to recruit applicants (check and DC depend on the job being hired). Depending on the roll, there may be up to 3 applicants. The player will select which application to accept, if any. If the character has met an NPC along the way that they believe would be a good fit, they can inquire directly if they are available and interested in the position. If so, the recruitment check can be skipped.

If the player decides to hire a new crewmate, they may perform a Persuasion check to attempt to lower their weekly rate (DC varies by individual). Hilda can make this check in lieu of the character (+1 modifier). A failure will result in them accepting the job at their desired rate, a success will result in accepting the job at a 10% discount, and a great success (>10 over the DC) will result in accepting at a 20% discount. If desired, a player can persuade Hilda instead to give the applicant their full desired rate in exchange for a one-time boost in friendship with the applicant.

Working

One work week - overtime varies

There are plenty of odd jobs around the ship that need to be done. You can spend your week helping out one of your crewmates and earn a little money for your trouble. You can select an individual to work for/with (first come, first served) or the DM can determine it for you. Note that not all people you know are looking for help every week. You are guaranteed to make money when choosing to work, but each job has its own specific check with tiered DCs. The better the roll, the more money is made. Some work may provide additional improvements to the ship status.

Carousing

Cost: 10 gp One work week - overtime unavailable

A week at the tavern can help you get to know the people around you and build trust, make new connections, and hear the gossip on the ship you may not otherwise hear. A Persuasion check determines your success. More information on Carousing can be found in XGE.

Gamble

Cost: 1-25 gp One work week - overtime unavailable

Plenty of your crewmates are looking to let off some steam and collect a little coin. Gambling (see XGE) requires 3 checks: Insight, Deception, & Intimidation. If you have proficiency with an appropriate gaming set, that tool proficiency can replace one of the relevant skills.

Cheating. You can make a sleight of hand check to give yourself advantage on one roll. You must declare you are doing so before making the roll to gamble. If you are caught, you will lose all of your wager, the crew will be unwilling to gamble with you indefintely, and your friendships with all gamblers on the ship will be penalized.

Crafting

Cost varies One work week - overtime available

See PHB and XGE crafting rules for basics. Must be proficient in tools related to the object being created. Time to craft and cost to craft are negotiable depending on character capabilities, connections, and resources.

Researching

Cost: 10 gp One work week - overtime available

See PHB Researching rules. Spend your time researching a specific topic. Multiple checks may be required as you work. Depending on the research topic, more than one week might be required to find answers.

Relaxing

One work week - overtime unavailable

Taking a week to relax can help to alleviate a character of conditions that are affecting them. A week of relaxation gives a character advantage on saves to recover from long acting diseases and poisons. In addition, at the end of the week, a character can end one effect that keeps the character from regaining hit points, or can restore one ability score that has been reduced to less than its normal value. This benefit cannot be used if the harmful effect was caused by a spell or some other magical effect with an ongoing duration. Relaxing for a week also has the effect of recovering 2 levels of exhaustion from working overtime instead of 1.

Religious Service

One work week - overtime unavailable

Spend the week working performing religious services on-board the ship and at ports of call. By doing so, you earn the chance to win favors with representatives of the church to help with specific problems, general political/social support, reduce cost of cleric spellcasting, etc. The character makes a Religion or Persuasion check to determine the impact of the service. The higher the impact, the more favors can be obtained. Note that while favors do not need to be used immediately, that there is a maximum number of favors that can be banked, equal to 1 + the character’s Charisma modifier. More information on Religious Services can be found in XGE.

Scribe a Spell Scroll

Cost varies One work week - overtime available

Requires proficiency in Arcana. One or more spell scrolls can be made over the course of a week, or progress can be made towards one of a higher level. The amount of time and money required to scribe a scroll depends on the level of the spell to be written. In order to scribe a spell, the character must have it prepared and have the material components for that spell on-hand. Detailed information on the costs for each spell level can be found in XGE.

Training

Cost: 50 gp One work week - overtime available

If you have an instructor available who is willing to teach you a skill (or an ally willing to donate their down time) you can make progress towards learning a language or gaining a new proficiency. You can typically earn this in 8 weeks.

Side Quests

Cost varies Time varies (One week minimum)

Over the course of the adventure, side quests may appear. These can manifest through getting to know crewmates, the Protectorate job board, in the course of another downtime activity, or any other task that has you out in the world. These quests come in two forms: ones that can be done by the group or ones that can be done solo. This section focuses on the latter.

The cost varies depending on the amount of time and travel required to complete the quest. The rewards for these quests are often great (gold, magic items), but the risks are high. These quests can involve numerous checks, and failure can result in permanent damage to your character, or even death.