Downtime Guide

• Downtime is the period between events where your character continues to have a life and livelihood between the Country Fayres.
• Our online Downtime submission is the system you use to tell us what they do in this time.
• After each event, we will announce on the Firecat Masquerade website when Downtime is open for submissions.
• You will have a limited time-period in which to submit Downtime Actions – this is likely to be a month.
• In most cases it should be possible to complete this online Downtime submission in as little as 5 minutes
• You can do a variety of things in this time but remember that survival is the most important – so you should consider how these actions will help your character obtain essential food and goods. If you have Rabbit Slaves you will also have to decide how (or if) to keep them alive during this time.
• PLEASE NOTE The time-period for your character between Country Fayres will not be the same as the real-world time between events.
• Time in Downtime is represented by Actions - each Action is assumed to represent an in-character week between games.
• It is assumed that Country Fayres take place at 4 month intervals, giving your character 16 actions
• Depending on what you want to do in Downtime, it may take a certain number of actions and you may also need other items, such as Carrots or Rabbit slaves in order to accomplish your task
• Some actions in Downtime can only be done if you have certain skills, abilities or items
• Some actions in Downtime can be done faster or better if you have certain skills, abilities or items.
• Other characters can help – or hinder you – in what you want to do in Downtime.
• When submitting a Downtime action, you should say WHERE you are performing the action – by naming the Location Name, Location Number, or Grid Reference

The Map above is a commonly used representation of The Land, devised by the Borough Council in order to dissect it into 3×3 mile “Territories”.

Staking a claim takes 2 months - this represents visiting the land, getting to know it, putting up signs and engaging in a complex legal process of seizing ownership and being recognised by the Burrow Council, Mayor Chiefweasel or other Wild Wooders.

You may not perform this action if somebody else has already staked a claim on the territory - to do this, you will need to perform the Downtime Action “Burn Claim” - representing removing their markers and engaging in complex legal processes of buying them out and finding legal loopholes to remove their rights to free access.

- If you have “Lore:Country Code”, your knowledge of legal process reduces the time it takes to Claim a Territory to 1 month.

- Any character can attempt to stake a claim on any territory, with the exception of Hedgehogs who live a nomadic life and may never stake claims; and Rabbits, who may not stake claims, but can use claims belonging to their owners.

- This action will be unsuccessful if somebody already owns a claim here.

- Areas of the Wild Wood can technically be claimed by anybody - the Burrow Council have no qualms about passing claim applications in the dark of the Wood - however, if the claimant has “Nature: Urban” or “Nature:Countryside”, the difficulty will lie in holding it, as it will likely be besieged on all sides by Wild Wooders keen to keep outsiders out.

- Areas of London-that-Was can technically be claimed by anybody, however, the list of claim applications will be given to the current Mayor Chiefweasel before being passed - for the past 12 years, Mayor Chiefweasel Bogart has made it clear that only Weasels and Toads may claim territory in London-that-Was; and Toads are expected to pay rent. If the Mayor Chiefweasel decides not to pass the Claim, then this action will not be successful.

- Any character may claim Territory in the Countryside.

What follows is not an exhaustive list of Downtime actions, but a useful guide for some common actions:

You may spend a week ‘Exploring’ a Territory. Exploring will tell you:

• What Buildings are there.
• Who owns any Claims there.
• What Trade is like there.
• What kind of Hunting is there
• Any other interesting facts about the Territory.
• Whether there are any Mole Tunnels there.
• What kind of things happened in that square during the week you were exploring.

There is also a ‘Explore Off-Map’ option. This involves exploring the depths of the Western Wild Wood or the East End of London, or deep in forgotten Mole tunnels. You will need to contact the Refs is you are performing this action and we will discuss your options.

The character spends some weeks in a Territory, setting up a series of signs and symbols that only its own culture can recognise. Once the character has spent a total of 8 weeks on this action, in this territory, they may stake a claim there.

These signs are learned from birth and one species may never learn another's signs. Many actions are far easier in territory you have performed a Claim action on. You may only Build on territories that you have previously staked a claim on.

If two sets of characters attempt to claim the same area in the same week, neither claim action will work and they must sort out their differences in uptime.

The character spends some weeks in a Territory - finding, tearing up, burning or otherwise destroying the signs, markers and symbols that another character is using to stake its claim on a Territory. No character may gain any benefit from that Territory until another claim has been made on it. Once the character has spent a total of 8 weeks on this action, in this territory, they may burn a pre-existing claim there.

In most cases, claims that you stake on a Territory can be used by those other characters in your group who are of the same Culture as you.

Crafting a building takes eight Downtime weeks and a team of 10 Rabbit slaves. You may only Craft a Building if your character has the Architecture skill.

You may give permission for a character to build on land that you have Claimed - you should detail this in the “any other business” section of your Downtime Submission.

A character may perform the Hunt action in Wild Wood territories in order to return Meat and Fur. Some characters may Hunt on Territories containing a River and catch fish to provide Meat. Very occasionally, other types of Territories on the map can be Hunted – these will be described in the Location descriptions.

Hunting is drastically reduced on land that another group has set a guard or totem on.

Every Territory gives a base chance of returning Meat or Fur per week of hunting, the level of hunting is described in Location descriptions and can be raised significantly with the bonuses described below.

Most characters require 4 Meat per Downtime in order to avoid beginning the next game weakened.

There are a number of devices, hidden skills and player actions that will increase the Hunting in a Territory. Hunting is better or worse in some locations. Some actions will lower the territory’s yield.

During Downtime, you may spend a week Scavenging in Urban Territories. You have a chance of returning strange Spices, Tech, Machine Parts, Luxuries or Coins. This can be increased by a number of skills or items. Some Territories are naturally more productive than others.

Territories will produce more if you establish a Claim on them or if you have an Urban Totem on them.

Mole Tunnels are entrances to the deep, underground realm of Moles, far below the Land. Having a Mole Tunnel in a Territory helps with many Downtime actions, including Mining and Trading. You can perform the Scavenge Downtime action on a Territory with a Mole Tunnel in it, as if it were an Urban Territory. Mole Tunnels also provide Mushrooms.

All Moles are able to perform the Downtime Action ‘Dig Mole Tunnel’, in order to create an entrance to the underground realm of the Moles. It takes 12 weeks to dig a Mole Tunnel – this time can be reduced by a week for every Rabbit slave that is used, to a minimum of 2 weeks.

Mole Tunnels improve many Downtime actions including Trade, Mining and Hunting.

During Downtime, if you have one or more of Lore: Herbs/Weeds/Mushrooms, you may spend a week Gathering Ingredients in any territory. You have a % chance of returning Herbs, Weeds or Mushrooms. This % can be increased by a number of skills or items. Some Territories are naturally more productive than others and some types of Ingredients do not grow in certain Territories at all. Territories will produce more if you establish a Claim on them or if you have a Countryside Totem on them. You will be given a list of locations and the Ingredients that often grow there if you take ‘Lore: Cultivation’.

During Downtime, you may spend a week on the ‘Lead Market’ action – you are travelling to a number of Territories and Trading in them.

You will automatically be competing for Trade against any other characters in this location, however, you can significantly increase the pool of goods by co-ordinating with other characters – if you wish others to join your side in running a Market, they must submit the ‘Join $NAME’s Market in XXX’ – with your character name and the location of the Market specified. You will acquire all the results of this Market and will be expected to share out the spoils of the Market in uptime.

If you are searching for a specific item, you should state this in the Action box.

You may run Markets in one location per week - you will be required to state the Territories you are running Markets in, as will all actions.

Markets provide a random return of Items – Ingredients, Luxury Items, Machine Parts, Brews, Weapons and Armour or Tech, or resources such as Coal or Carrots. The level of return depends on how successful a Market is – you can make a Market more successful if multiple characters perform Trade actions in the same Territory at the same time, or by using Rabbit slaves to advertise. Your slaves will scour the Territory, setting up adverts and notices to draw in crowds, or they will assist you in running the Market, to make it larger and more impressive.

You will only be able to acquire Coal, Carrots and Meat if you add slaves or a vehicle with Cargo space – it will tell you on the Item card if a vehicle has Cargo space. Some vehicles have more Cargo space than others.

Some Territories are naturally better places to Trade in – Rivers and Roads, for example. Some Skills or Merits will allow you to up the Trade factor in a Territory. Some Territories can be made more productive by establishing a Claim there. Some Territories can be made more productive by establishing a Countryside Totem in them.

Sometimes, through nothing but bad luck, there will be no Trade in a territory at all.

During Downtime, you may spend a week on the ‘Lead Raid’ action – you are travelling to a number of Territories and Raiding them.

You will automatically enter conflict with any other characters in a Territory – if you wish others to join your side in a Raid, they must submit the “Join Raid: #Name” – with your name specified. You will acquire all the loot of a Raid and will be expected to share out the spoils of the Raid in uptime.

You may only Raid one Territory per week. You will be required to state the Territory that you are Raiding in. The outcome of Raids may include capturing Buildings, Vehicles or Items, destroying Totems, capturing Slaves and driving claimholders off the Territory in order to then establish your own claim.

Raiding will not produce any results in many deserted Territories – however, if the Raid is successful and there is a Building in the Territory, then its output may be damaged. If there are Slaves there, you may steal a small number of them. Importantly, if there is a Market running in that Territory and your Raid is successful, then you will steal the items that would have gone to the person or people running the Market.

There are ways to improve your chances during Raids – some skills and Vehicles, many Weapons or Armour. Equally, some Buildings, skills, Weapons, Vehicles or Armour help you defend against Raids.

You will only be able to acquire Coal, Carrots and Meat if you add Slaves or a Vehicle with Cargo space – it will tell you on the Item card if a Vehicle has Cargo space. Some Vehicles have more Cargo space than others.

You may improve your chances of attacking or defending a Territory by establishing a Claim there. You may increase your chances of attacking a territory by establishing an Urban totem there.

You may spend a week Guarding against Raiders. By choosing this action, you (and any Weapons, Vehicles, Items or Armour you have in your inventory) will be automatically included on the defending side of any Raid. You may improve your chances of Defending a Territory by establishing a Claim there.

You may increase your chances of Defending a Territory by establishing an Totem there. Guarding allows you to prevent others Hunting on that area of land by anyone who is a claimholder. If you wish to allow Hunting by characters who are not claimholders, you should specify this in the “Any other business” section.

You may Craft the relevant Weapons, Armour or Shields as identified by the specific Craft skill you have taken. Precise information on Crafting times for each item will be available on the on-line Downtime system and given on request at the Event.

To Fash'n Technology, a character requires:

a) The specific Fash'n or High Fash'n skill.

For example: only characters with ‘Fash'n: Clockwork’ can create Simple Clockwork Tech items. Only characters with ‘High Fash'n: Clockwork’ can create Complex or Crazy Clockwork Tech items.

b) A Blueprint - To create a Tech item, the character must have the correct Blueprint in their Downtime inventory.

c) Machine Parts - The Blueprint will specify the number of Machine Parts needed; and the type. Machine parts come in three types: Clockwork, Steam and Powder.

d) Time - The Blueprint will specify the number of Downtime weeks the item will take to craft.

A Device may be part finished - with the Blueprint, others may take up where the previous Fash'ner left off.

You can complete a part-finished Device without the aid of a Blueprint. This is called Jury-rigging and the process takes an entire Downtime. You must specify the number and type of Machine Parts to put towards this project before engaging in Jury-rigging and the process may not always be successful.

It is possible to copy Simple Tech and Complex Tech Blueprints.

• Copying Blueprints is a long process - to copy a Blueprint takes 2 months
• Hedgehogs are able to copy Blueprints more quickly - it takes a Hedgehog 1 month to copy a Blueprint.
• It is not possible to copy Crazy Tech Blueprints.

It is possible to make Blueprints for Tech that you are able build.

To do this, you must have the Device in your character’s inventory. You must be able to Fash’n that kind of Tech.

• It takes 2 months to make a Blueprint for Simple Tech item.
• It takes 3 months to make a Blueprint for a Complex Tech item.
• You cannot reverse engineer Blueprints for Crazy Tech items.

If you have taken the skill Craft or Mastercraft Totem, you may craft Totems in Downtime. Totems can be built anywhere on the map and you can build more than one Totem in a single Territory.

You may only infuse a Totem with your own nature. It takes 3 months to build a Totem, performing the correct ceremonies over it, after which the Territory becomes charged with power, allowing certain actions to be more successful.

Totems can be planted anywhere. You must specify which location you are placing the Totem in.

Totems grant significant bonuses to a variety of Downtime actions:

• Urban Totems aid in: scavenging, reclaiming, raiding (attack) and guarding territory.
• Countryside Totems aid in: farming, producing slaves, gathering ingredients, raiding (defence) and guarding territory.
• Wild Wood Totems aid in: hunting, drawing wild wood power, guarding territory.

Totems automatically Guard a Territory as if a player character was performing a Guard action there, due to their inherent terrifying presence.

Totems are often strange and unpredictable. They may have powers not explained in published rules and you are encouraged to experiment with them.

The Totems that you build and the rituals that you empower them with are especially powerful – The Downtime benefit for these Totems is greater.

You will find the following information on the item card of a vehicle:

• Attack Bonus: Whether the vehicle grants a bonus to Raiding.
• Defence Bonus: Whether the vehicle grants a bonus to defending against RaidsTrade Bonus: Whether the vehicle grants a bonus to Trading.
• Cargo: Whether you can acquire Carrots, Coal or Meat.
• Capacity: How many people can use the item in a given action– for example, four people could use a Steam Car and all gain benefit from it.

Some items have special rules that will be specified on the card – for example: Boats only grant bonuses on River Territories.

• Buildings are managed per Downtime rather than per week.
• Many Buildings require a number of Slaves to run.

For every Slave you set to work in a mine during Downtime, you will receive 4 sacks of Coal. This amount can be increased by using the following buffs:

There are a number of Devices, hidden skills and player actions that will increase a Mine’s yield. Mining is better or worse in some locations. Certain actions will lower the Mine’s yield.

• All Moles can take a Mine as an advantage: Building – Mine.
• Anybody with Lore: Architecture may build a Mine on any Territory that they have previously claimed.
• You may build a Mine on any ‘Countryside’ Territory, but some will have more Coal than others. Some will have no Coal at all.
• If you have the skill Detect Coal Seam then you may spend an action exploring the map, to see how much Coal is in a Territory.
• Once you own a Mine, you may send Rabbit slaves down the Mine to work.
• A single Rabbit slave will return 4 sacks of Coal per Downtime

For each Rabbit slave you set to work in a arm during Downtime, you will receive 10 sacks of Carrots. This is increased with the following buffs:

There are a number of Devices, hidden skills and player actions that will increase a Farm’s yield. Farming is better or worse in some locations. Some actions will lower the Farm’s yield.

Used to produce Machine Parts essential for making Tech.

• A Factory requires 10 Rabbit Slaves and 60 Sacks of Coal to run for a Downtime.
• A Factory will produce 12 Machine Parts per Downtime - this output may be increased by using skills and other buffs.
• You should specify which kind of machine parts you are producing.

You may use a Slaughterhouse to turn any Rabbit Slaves that you own into Processed Meat – a high protein mincemeat that comes in much smaller packages. For every Slave you put in to this Building, you will be supplied with a Processed Meat Item card. Processed Meat counts as ordinary Meat but can be phys-repped by a small, brick-shaped package - this Processed Meat can be used in a variety of cooking methods and a single package will last a whole month.

A tannery is used to turn Rabbit Slaves into hide – the material essential to crafting leather Armour. You do not need the tanning skill to use this building.

Each Downtime, a Tavern will give the owner reports of the events that have taken place along the entire stretch of the Road or River that it is placed on.

A defensive structure. The owner of this Building will gain bonuses to Raid actions taken place in this Territory.

Reduces Crafting times for any person owning the Building.

To seize a Building, you will first need to succeed in a Raid action on the Territory the Building is in. If the Raid action is successful, you will turf out any person currently using the Building. If the Building produces a Resource, such as Coal or Carrots, you will gain a portion of the resources from that Building, dependant on when the Raid took place.

You may choose to set a number of your Slaves to work in any Buildings you own. These Slaves will be occupied for the whole 16 weeks of Downtime and may not be used for any other actions.

You may set your Slaves to Foraging. These Slaves will spend their Downtime searching for enough wild carrots to eat. A number of Slaves who Forage will be unsuccessful and will die of starvation - however, the remainder will find enough food to add to your supplies.

You may decide to set your Slaves to Singing - these Rabbits will sit and sing simple melodies, but will not take on any other actions during Downtime.

Any slaves not assigned to per Downtime actions can then be used for weekly Downtime actions.

After every game, each character gains 2 Experience Points, which they may spend on learning new skills – you should specify which skill your character is learning.

The points cost for learning skills remains the same as at Character Generation.

If a skill is not normally availiable to your culture, then you will definately require a teacher for the skill and the experience cost for learning the skill will be doubled. Most skills will never be availiable to your culture - for example: Wild Wooders will never be able to learn Tech related skills. These requests will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

You may decide to spend 1 Experience Point on teaching another character a skill your character already knows – effectively giving them 3 experience points.

• You may usually only receive 1 Experience Point from a teacher per Downtime.
• You may only ever have one teacher per Downtime.

Exceptions:

HEDGEHOGS may choose to spend 2 Experience Points on teaching two separate characters.

BADGERS cannot spend long enough around other characters to teach them skills – Badger characters cannot donate Experience Points to other characters.

Food: Rabbit Player Characters must consume 1 Sack of Carrots per week of Downtime to survive – 16 sacks for the whole Downtime.

Player Characters from other Cultures must consume 1 Meat per month of Downtime to survive – 4 Meat for the whole Downtime.

Without this food, Characters will start losing Downtime actions and may begin the following game severely weakened.

This extends to slaves: NPC Rabbit Slaves must consume 1 Sack of Carrots per week of Downtime to survive – 16 sacks for the whole Downtime.

Without this food they will die at the end of the Downtime.

While it is possible to kill NPC slaves and turn them in to Meat, the work-force of Rabbits do not make for good meals – The Meat of an NPC Rabbit will only feed a Character for two Downtime weeks if killed and skinned for food. To turn these slaves in to a more protein-rich meal, you require a Slaughterhouse.

Player Character Rabbits still provide one Meat when killed. Other Cultures provide even more protein-rich meals – feeding for 2 months. The flesh of Badgers is the most protein-rich of all, feeding for all 4 months of Downtime.

Winter follows every second Downtime. Player Characters cannot take actions or operate resources during Winter and cannot influence events in any way - however, they are still required to fulfil the following conditions:

Characters and Slaves have the same Food requirements and penalties during Winter as during Downtime and will be required to stockpile food in other Downtimes, due to being unable to Farm.

In addition, Player Characters are required to provide warmth for themselves and their Slaves during Winter otherwise they will begin the following game severely weakened and may suffer permanent penalties. Any Slaves not kept warm will die of cold during the Winter. There are two methods for keeping slaves and player characters warm.

Furs: Every player character will need to acquire 1 Fur by the time Winter arrives. For every Slave they own, a Player Character will also need to supply 1 Fur per Slave if you intend to keep them alive.

Coal: Instead of Furs, a Player Character or Slave may use Coal to keep warm – If you intend to use Coal, then you will require 5 sacks of Coal per Player Character or Slave per Winter to keep warm.