Anyone else using the ultimate campaign rules or downtime in the wrath of the righteous adventure path?
Yo.
Though in a homebrew and not the WotR adventure path.As I understand it from reading over the rules again, that 25-unit spending limit is applied to the total of Goods, Labor, and Influence, but it's not explicitly stated anywhere. I've collected a few points from the document to support my position, which I'll post below in the spoiler. Note that Magic is exempted from the 25-unit amount, as wizards would never stoop to performing Labor or creating mundane Capital.
From d20pfsrd
Spending Limits represent the limit of how much Goods, Influence, and Labor you can utilize in settlement each day. Even if you have a lot of Goods and Labor at your disposal from favors and such, a tiny settlement might have only a few hands to spare to turn that capital into finished projects.
If the number of free hands is limited, then it would make an odd sort of sense that all three funnel into the same pool. For example, while the mayor might be willing to cash in some of your Influence with her and spare a few hours of her secretary's time for your project, he's already swamped with paperwork from the merchants that you bought Goods from and can't get to it until tomorrow.
-As for whether the PC can commission the work and leave or if they have to stay and work on it themselves, the news for your PC is unfortunate: according to the Phases list of a downtime day, the rules explicitly state that a player constructing a building does so during Phase 2 of the day. This would imply that they have to be there to oversee the work and make sure the privy doesn't wind up inside the kitchen or alchemy lab.
Of course, just because the rules SAY they have to be there doesn't mean that you have to hold them to it. In my own personal campaign they commissioned the work and then left while the grateful villagers worked on it whenever they had time, but I would also see no problem with adding an extra cost each day that an overseer works on the building instead of them. Perhaps an extra point of Influence or Labor each day would be fair.
A downtime session takes place over the following four phases, which make up 1 downtime day.
Phase 1—Upkeep: Pay costs associated with maintaining completed buildings and organizations.
Phase 2—Activity: Perform downtime activities, such as constructing a building, recruiting an organization, or retraining.
Phase 3—Income: Determine how much capital your buildings, organizations, and other activities generate, and sell off assets you no longer want.
Phase 4—Event: Check whether any unusual events occur. Some are beneficial, such as Famous Visitor or Good Fortune. Others are detrimental, such as Fire or Sickness.
Also, under the Activity Phase section, it says
Step 2—Continue Ongoing Downtime Activity: Your first priority is continuing a downtime activity that requires more than 1 day. Depending on the specific requirements of that activity, interrupting it might ruin any progress you've made. Some activities might require only a small bit of your attention and still allow you to perform other downtime activities in this phase.
Leaving town while making something via the downtime system is assumed to prevent further progress on whatever you're making. No exception is put forward for buildings, so they should be put on hold just like the wizard's magic wand in the example. This would actually be one of the places where leaving might ruin some of your progress, as the building falls apart during rain or high winds or some of the wood and goods are ruined or your goods are sold out from under you by unsavory shopkeepers.
While such things might be fun for the GM, don't bring them out too much or else they might stop being fun for the players. Perhaps have a mini-questline where they track down their sold furniture or strong-arm the thieving shopkeep into giving them twice what they paid for at no cost instead.