E M E R A L D C I T Y C H R O N I C L E S
GAMEPLAY: PERMUTATIONS: DOWNTIME ACTIONS
Game takes place from 10pm to 2am on Saturday evenings. Your character, however, doesn't exist in a vacuum and therefore can realistically perform other actions while not at game. While we as a staff understand that, we also understand that your vampire should also be spending a goodly chunk of their time hunting, covering up minor mistakes, paying rent (or avoiding such things), etc, etc. As the world can be a hard place to operate in for those allergic to sunlight, and as your character is only active for a set amount of time each day, a characters total number of Downtime Actions will be limited to half of your Path rating (Round up for Humanity, round down for everything else) per month.
SUBMIT DOWNTIME
Submitting a downtime is easy. The simplest way to do so is to complete the following form: DOWNTIME FORM. Staff would greatly prefer it if you would use that form, as it helps us track and gain insights about how folks in the game over-all are using their downtime actions. In addition, you may also send email or register the future downtime with staff at game. This form works on most smartphones however, so it's super easy to just access that form and register a downtime as you think of one. Favorite the link above on your mobile browser!
Cut off for Downtime actions is Wednesday by midnight each week in order to have an answer for you by the following game, though some downtimes take longer by default, or based on rolls.
Staff will respond to these as they come in within about a week to a month, depending on the downtime. On occasion you will ask to do something, and Staff might scratch their heads for a minute before saying 'Sure, but that takes a Downtime Action'. The following actions will always take a downtime action:
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Starting at full blood.
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Patrolling or canvassing a particular Domain or area.
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Crafting an item.
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Engaging a Mentor.
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Researching things of note via documents, books, etc.
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Researching things of note via computers, internet, etc.
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Researching things of note via experimentation
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Researching and mastering a new combo-discipline, ritual or path.
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Learning something from a text (as opposed to an actual teacher).
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Engaging an Influence (growing, using, etc.)
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Growing a Business. (For the duration of the Grow)
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Forcing an Oracular Vision.
DOWNTIMES THAT AREN'T
Downtime Actions are generally restricted to information gathering type activities or engaging in systems that don't otherwise cost XP. In the case of your downtime action resulting in a scene, that action will not cost downtime. For example, if in the course of your character investigating Bainbridge Island, they are assaulted by Sabbat, you would be told to contact staff for a scene rather then being given the results of your action and it would be considered that you hadn't spent that downtime action.
VARIABLE INFLUENCE USES & TIMES
Growing Influence is a use of influence (Read, it takes time), and all uses of Influence take 2-4 weeks depending on staff assessment of the request. For example, getting back simple information from your Logistics Influence guy about the amount of contraband traffic at the port of Seattle is much easier (and takes less time) than arranging a shipment to be re-routed from Belgium.
DOWNTIMES & RETAINERS
Retainers are sometimes able to perform downtime actions depending on the task you are requesting. A retainer can, for example, patrol your character's domain, albeit somewhat poorly if they are not good at such things. Your retainers can make the checks associated for growing a business, but you must still expend the actions to build up the infrastructure. However, if you assign a retainer to contact a mentor, you should expect to lose both. Likewise, your retainers cannot activate things on your character's sheet associated with your character's personal presence or powers, such as Influence or Oracular.
F.A.Q.'S
Q: I'd like full blood for the first week in May, do I send in a down time before the last Wednesday of April? Even though it isn't yet May?
A: The game ahead of you is what counts. In this scenario you'd be spending May's downtime to effect the month of games in front of you.
Q: I have not spent my last April downtime action and want to research murder hobos. My downtime comes in on the last Wednesday of April. Does it qualify as and April action or May? As there are no more games in April.
A: Spend your downtime before the games of that month are over or lose them. In this scenario you didn't spend your last April downtime in time, so your only option would be to begin spending from your May downtimes.
RESEARCH & AQUISITION OF INFORMATION
Research is actually a catch-all effect that we are using for a variety of things. All things that staff decide are 'research' projects will be resolved using a similar system to what the Rituals research is. However, instead of multiplying the necessary successes by 5x the level of project, you only need to acquire 2x for mundane research, and rarely is there a multiplier needed to interpret the data. Further, other forms of investigation will now be resolved using a similar method. Staff will dictate a level of project for your feat based on the obscurity of the task, the area it covers, and the pains others have taken to cover it up. This level will determine the difficulty for the investigation checks and the interpreting effects. Sometimes you may assist lowering difficulties using powers, or get more successes by working with your coterie to greater effect.
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Research checks are typically made once a week. Therefore, any downtime actions spent towards investigation or interpretation (mastery) checks will yield you up to 4 checks (four weeks in a month).
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One may perform downtime actions to 'research' in only one category at a time, so choose well.
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Extended research rolls are exempt from the standard 'try again' mechanic whereby a failure adds difficulty each time. This represents the lengthy care and preparation involved in long-term projects and research.
INVESTIGATIONS
When requesting an investigation downtime, please consider and include in your submission the following details about the type and breadth of investigation that your Kindred is performing:
INVESTIGATION TYPES
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Archival research - Specify Texts, Utiliy Records, Newspaper articles, Library research, Internet searches.
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What length of historical search, Last night? Last week? A hundred years back?
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Crime Scene Investigation - Specify searching a specific area for clues as to what occurred there in the past.
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Modified by state of the location, What length of historical event?
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Patrolling an Area - Specify visually searching or scanning around for people, groups or supernaturals.
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What is the size of the area being patrolled? A block? A neighborhood? The whole city?
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Canvassing an Area - Specify looking for the 'word on the street', talking to locals, knocking on doors, passing around pictures or mugshots searhing for recognition of a general or particular person or group.
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What is the size of the area being canvassed. A block? A neighborhood? The whole city?
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Analyzing a Compound - Identifying an object's components and structure. Utilizing scientific methodologies to determine statistical data about a material's composition and makeup.
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What scientific equipment is being used to analyze this item? How long is the analysis?
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