Downtime

Downtime

• Downtime is the time that passes in the world between events, as opposed to Uptime, which is what happens in an Interactive or Linear. Your characters are busy people, and when not at the bar their Faction will have plenty of work for them.

• You have the option to specify one Major Action and a few Minor Actions that your character attempts during Downtime.

• Downtime actions are not guaranteed to succeed; you will be told the results before the next interactive.

• Any items you receive in your Downtime will be specifically defined by the Refs, and you should pick up the appropriate Ribbons and/or Cards from them at the Interactive.

Gaining XP and Downtimes

• Characters gain 1XP per week.
• Characters gain an extra 1XP and a Downtime if you played them for more than 30 min this week. We will not clock-watch on this, so don't feel you need to stay in for exactly 5 minutes more for some XP.
• You gain 1XP and a Downtime for an existing PC you didn't play this week if either you:
  • Played NPCs for more than 30 min of the Interactive.
  • Played NPCs on the Linear.
• If you play NPCs on the Linear, you will earn an extra Major Action for one of your PCs.

What to put in Downtimes

• Any XP spent on Skills.

• Any Major or Minor Actions your PC undertakes.

• Anything we may need to know about from the Interactive.

• Any drugs your PC took this week. They are rip-open lammies with a description on the outside, and will say to tell the Refs

• Please state your downtimes concisely. Descriptive passages are interesting and often appreciated, but the refs have limited reading time. The Refs reserve the right to veto downtime actions that they cannot swiftly understand. If you would like to submit a long-form action, we'd appreciate a short summary at the top. All mechanical decisions will be made on the summary, not the fiction.

Downtime Actions

Major Actions

Major actions are things you plan to do. Things that affect the world around your PC, have a chance to fail or not go to plan, or require a detailed response from the Refs. For example, although researching a subject in your Embassy’s archives might not affect anyone else, the Refs will have to write up the information for you, so it’s a Major Action.

Examples of Major Actions:

Click "Expand" to see a list of common Major Actions. Crafting an Item. You may craft any number of items in Uptime, this is mostly for if you want to make things in secret. Casting a couple of rituals. You may not improvise Rituals in Downtime. Research on one specific topic. Espionage. Exploration. Trying to buy a rare or unusual item. Anything unusual that the Refs have to think about. ADVENTURE! Your PC gains a randomly-generated item from the low end of the Trade 3 list and some flavour text about how they got it. If you can't think of anything else to do, this is a good way to get something entertaining and possible plot links. A single Improvised Ritual. The Refs will make bead draws on your behalf based on how many PCs submit "help this ritual" as a minor action. The Refs will never voluntarily draw a red bead. You may only choose ADVENTURE! or Improvised Ritual once per DT, even if you have 2 Major Actions. Anyone can spend money when trying to get information, especially on other Factions, to improve their ability to do so. The more money the better

Minor Actions

Minor actions are things the refs need to know. Stuff that can for the most part just happen, and to which the Refs can reply “okay, noted”.

Examples include:

• Using Trade 1 to plant a rumour.
• Buying a Talisman or Magical Equipment of L1 or L2.
• Sending a letter.
• Requesting an specific NPC meet with you in uptime (you are not guaranteed a response).
• Actions that are purely roleplay “I get drunk with that PC, I pray at my temple”, etc.
• If the Refs feel a Minor Action is really a major action, they will inform you to chose between it or your Major Action.
• Ears to the Ground: Spending 16D will get you an extra rumour in your DT.
• Additional Rumours: Those who can spread rumours (Trade 1) may spend 32D per extra rumour to spread extra rumour, &/or 32D to increase the spreading of all their rumours.
• Healing: As well as automatically healing 2 Wound levels after the interactive, those wishing not to attempt to be healed in uptime can spend 16D per Wound level getting healing.
• Buying Curative Herbs to use with the Healing 3 Skill. These cost 4D each.

How do I send in my Downtime?

You may submit your downtime here

• Please do not email in downtimes, we are managing them via a spreadsheet.

Doing nothing

No Flag, No Country is a Live-Action Roleplaying Game, not a play by email RPG. If you don’t want to submit a downtime, that’s fine!