Taking downtime actions during construction and recruiting


Rules Questions


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

The rule for building rooms/buildings and hiring teams have the following to say:

Time: This entry indicates how long it takes to complete the room or recruit the team. You may divide the Time price for a room by 2, 3, or 4 by spending 2, 3, or 4 times its Labor price. You may divide the Time price for a team by 2, 3, or 4 by spending 2, 3, or 4 times its Influence price. You must be in the settlement at the start of the construction or recruitment period, but don't have to spend any of your downtime days to begin construction or recruitment. In effect, you have to be present only to give the order to begin.

If a team doesn't have a Time price, spending capital to recruit that team doesn't count as a downtime action.

The whole second paragraph seems to contradict the last two sentences of the first.

Let's say I spend all of last week earning gold and capital to start a tavern. If I start construction of the tavern on the following Monday, may I continue earning gold and capital the following Monday, as well as all the weekdays after? Or is my downtime suddenly locked up in the construction time of the building?

What if I am recruiting a team with a 2 day time price? Can I start construction of a building, or earn capital, or craft a magical item on day 2 of recruitment? Or am I too busy recruiting?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Well?


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Hey, RD. Sorry it took so long for a reply - I wanted to get all of the rules thoroughly in my head.

I think it's just so that the rules are completely clear.

The other part of the rules that are relevant are the Activity phase of the downtime session:

Quote:

Step 1—Perform Free Activities: You can perform any activities that don't require downtime days, such as buying gear, selling unwanted magic items, and bartering.

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.

Step 3—Begin New Downtime Activity: If you aren't continuing an earlier downtime activity, or are continuing one that doesn't restrict you from starting a new activity, you can begin a new downtime activity.

Construction or recruitment is a downtime activity. You can only begin one new downtime activity per downtime session, even if the activity doesn't consume a downtime day. Essentially, you can begin construction or recruitment even if the activity in step 2 uses up your downtime day.

However, if the Time requirement for a team doesn't exist, recruiting it doesn't even count as a downtime activity, so doesn't count against the Begin New Downtime Activity 1/day limit.

Example:

Ravingo Dorcus the Magnificent, wizard extraordinaire, is going to craft himself a Headband of Vast Intelligence. He's using downtime to do it. He's also planning on getting some miners for the mithral mine he discovered and claimed. He doesn't have any other ongoing downtime activities.

Day 1 Activity:

Step 1: sell loot obtained from adventuring. This is a free activity.
Step 2: nothing to do here.
Step 3: start Headband (1 downtime day used up)

Day 2 Activity

Step 1: nothing to do here.
Step 2: continue Headband (1 downtime day used up)
Step 3: recruit miners. 1 team of craftspeople, and 2 teams of labourers. Since the labourers don't even count as a downtime activity, there's no problem doing all of these at once.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Isn't it the same with construction though? I mean, once you tell them what to build, you don't even need to be physically present. What is stopping you from continuing your headband or setting another construction team on another project elsewhere?


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

In step 3 you can perform a single downtime activity, regardless of whether it uses up a downtime day or not. If, by the time you get to step 3, you have already used up your downtime day, you can still begin construction of a single room (to start a building), or recruit a single team (to start an organisation). Teams without a time cost do not count against this limit: you can simultaneously start a building (no downtime day used) and recruit any number of Time 0 teams (subject to the settlement's daily capital spending limit).

It's all about starting the construction or recruitment process. Once the process has begun, it just happens. But to start it you (normally) have to still use the downtime activity to begin recruiting or constructing.

Think of it like this:

Most downtime activities (which use up your downtime day) are like full-round actions. Starting a downtime activity is a swift action. Recruiting a Time 0 team is a free action. Ongoing construction or recruitment is not an action.

So, to start a (normal) downtime activity, you use your swift action to start it, and your full-round action to actually do it. Construction and recruitment don't use a downtime day, though, so to start them, you only need to use your swift action, leaving your full-round action for another activity (such as continuing your headband). You can still only do one swift action, though. Time 0 team recruitment is an exception - it's a free action, you can do as many of them as you want.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Can't I still get two hours of item crafting done (using up four hours) while working on another downtime activity by working on it during lunch, morning preparation, and during watches at night?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

The difference seems rather nebulous to me, Chemlak.

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